Flora and Fauna is important element in the earth

Breadfruit

2009-10-21T04:39:00.000-07:00

Breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis) is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry family, Moraceae, that is native to the Malay Peninsula and western Pacific islands. It has also been widely planted in tropical regions elsewhere.

Breadfruit at Tortuguero, Costa Rica

Breadfruit trees grow to a height of 20 meters (66 ft). The large and thick leaves are deeply cut into pinnate lobes. All parts of the tree yield latex, a milky juice, which is useful for boat caulking.

The trees are monoecious, with male and female flowers growing on the same tree. The male flowers emerge first, followed shortly afterward by the female flowers, which grow into a capitulum, which are capable of pollination just three days later. The pollinators are Old World fruit bats in the family Pteropodidae. The compound, false fruit develops from the swollen perianth and originates from 1,500-2,000 flowers. These are visible on the skin of the fruit as hexagon-like disks.

Breadfruit is one of the highest-yielding food plants, with a single tree producing up to 200 or more fruits per season. In the South Pacific, the trees yield 50 to 150 fruits per year. In southern India, normal production is 150 to 200 fruits annually. Productivity varies between wet and dry areas. In the Caribbean, a conservative estimate is 25 fruits per tree. Studies in Barbados indicate a reasonable potential of 6.7 to 13.4 tons per acre (16-32 tons/ha). The grapefruit-sized ovoid fruit has a rough surface, and each fruit is divided into many achenes, each achene surrounded by a fleshy perianth and growing on a fleshy receptacle. Some selectively-bred cultivars have seedless fruit.

The breadfruit is closely related to the breadnut and the jackfruit.

Habitat

Breadfruit is an equatorial lowland species that grows best below elevations of 650 metres (2,100 ft), but is found at elevations of 1,550 metres (5,100 ft). Its preferred rainfall is 1,500–3,000 millimetres (59–120 in) per year. Preferred soils are neutral to alkaline (pH of 6.1-7.4) and either sand, sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam. Breadfruit is able to grow in coral sands and saline soils.

Uses

Breadfruit is a staple food in many tropical regions. They were propagated far outside their native range by Polynesian voyagers who transported root cuttings and air-layered plants over long ocean distances. They are very rich in starch, and before being eaten they are roasted, baked, fried, or boiled. When cooked the taste is described as potato-like, or similar to fresh baked bread (hence the name).

The fruit of the breadfruit tree - whole, sliced lengthwise and in cross-section

Because breadfruit trees usually produce large crops at certain times of the year, preservation is an issue. One traditional preservation technique is to bury peeled and washed fruits in a leaf-lined pit where they ferment over several weeks and produce a sour, sticky paste. So stored, the product may last a year or more, and some pits are reported to have produced edible contents more than 20 years later. Fermented breadfruit mash goes by many names such as mahr, ma, masi, furo, and bwiru, among others.

Drawing of breadfruit by Sydney Parkinson

Most breadfruit varieties also produce a small number of fruits throughout the year, so fresh breadfruit is always available, but somewhat rare when not in season.

Breadfruit can be eaten once cooked, or can be further processed into a variety of other foods. A common product is a mixture of cooked or fermented breadfruit mash mixed with coconut milk and baked in banana leaves. Whole fruits can be cooked in an open fire, then cored and filled with other foods such as coconut milk, sugar and butter, cooked meats, or other fruits. The filled fruit can be further cooked so that the flavor of the filling permeates the flesh of the breadfruit.

The Hawaiian staple food called poi made of mashed taro root is easily substituted or augmented with mashed breadfruit. The resulting “breadfruit poi” is called poi ʻulu. In Puerto Rico it is called "panapen" or "pana", for short.

Breadfruit is roughly 25% carbohydrates and 70% water. It has an average amount of vitamin C (20 mg/100g) and small amounts of minerals (potassium and zinc) and thiamin (100 μg).

Breadfruit was widely and diversely used among Pacific Islanders. Its lightweight wood (specific gravity of 0.27) is resistant to termites and shipworms, and consequently was used as timber for structures and outrigger canoes. Its wood pulp can also be used to make paper, called breadfruit tapa. It is also used in traditional medicine to treat illnesses that range from sore eyes to sciatica.

In history

In a late-18th-century quest for cheap, high-energy food sources for British slaves in the Caribbean, William Bligh, Commanding Lieutenant of the HMS Bounty, collected and distributed botanical samples of breadfruit. Other sources say Captain James Cook was the first to introduce the South Pacific native plant to the Caribbean islands.

In culture

According to an etiological Hawaiian myth, the breadfruit originated from the sacrifice of the war god Kū. After deciding to live secretly among mortals as a farmer, Kū married and had children. He and his family lived happily until a famine seized their island. When he could no longer bear to watch his children suffer, Kū told his wife that he could deliver them from starvation, but to do so he would have to leave them. Reluctantly, she agreed, and at her word, Kū descended into the ground right where he had stood until only the top of his head was visible. His family waited around the spot he had last been day and night, watering it with their tears until suddenly a small green shoot appeared where Kū had stood. Quickly, the shoot grew into a tall and leafy tree that was laden with heavy breadfruits that Kū's family and neighbors gratefully ate, joyfully saved from starvation.

Though they are widely distributed throughout the Pacific, many breadfruit hybrids and cultivars are seedless or otherwise biologically incapable of naturally dispersing long distances. Therefore, their distribution in the Pacific was clearly enabled by humans, specifically prehistoric groups who colonized the Pacific Islands. To investigate the patterns of human migration throughout the Pacific, scientists have used molecular dating of breadfruit hybrids and cultivars in concert with anthropological data. Results support the west-to-east migration hypothesis, in which the Lapita people are thought to have traveled from Melanesia to numerous Polynesian islands.

The world’s largest collection of breadfruit varieties has been established by botanist Diane Ragone, from over twenty years' travel to fifty Pacific islands, on a 10-acre plot outside of Hana, Hawaii on the isolated east coast of Maui.

Breadfruit trees grow to a height of about 20 meters (66 ft). The leaves are large, thick and are deeply cut into pinnate lobes. All parts of the tree, including the unripe fruit, are rich in milky juice, gummy latex, which is useful for boat caulking.

The breadfruit is closely related to the breadnut and the jackfruit. Breadfruit can be eaten at all stages of maturity when they are roasted, baked, fried, or boiled. They are rich in startch and when cooked the taste is very similar to potato-like, or fresh baked bread. One of the fermentation technique is to bury peeled and washed fruits in a leaf-lined pit over several weeks and produce a sour, sticky paste. Fermented stored breadfruit may last a year or more.

Fully ripe fruits that have harvested from the tree can be wrapped in polyethylene, or put into polyethylene bags, and can be kept for upto 10 days in storage at a temperature of 53.6'F (12'C). At lower temperature, the fruit may be damaged by chilling injury. Slightly unripe fruits that have been caught by hand when knocked down can be maintained for 15 days under the same conditions. The thickness of the polyethylene used to keep the fruit should be atleast equal or greater than 38 or even 50 micrometer.

Cuisines

A common product is a mixture of cooked or fermented breadfruit mash mixed with coconut milk and baked in banana leaves.

Whole fruits can be cooked in an open fire, then cored and filled with coconut milk, sugar and butter, cooked meats, or other fruits. The filled fruit can be then cooked so that the flavor of the filling permeates the flesh of the breadfruit.

The pulp scraped from soft, ripe breadfruits is combined with coconut milk, salt and sugar and baked to make a pudding. A more elaborate dessert is concocted of mashed ripe breadfruit, with butter, 2 beaten eggs, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and rosewater, a dash of sherry or brandy, blended and boiled. Breadfruit is also candied, or sometimes prepared as a sweet pickle.

The original method of making POI involved peeling, washing and halving the breadfruit, discarding the core, placing the fruits in stone pits lined with leaves of Cordylme terminalis Kunth, alternating the layers of fruit with old fermented pod, covering the upper layer with leaves, topping the pit with soil and rocks and leaving the contents to ferment, which acidifies and preserves the breadfruit for several years.

In Barbados and Brazil there is a way to substituting breadfruit in part for wheat flour in breadmaking, and it called Breadfruit flour. Breadfruit flour is much richer than wheat flour in lysine and other essential amino acids. This new combination has been found more nutritious than wheat flour alone.

The seeds from the breadfruit are boiled, steamed, roasted over a fire or in hot coals and eaten with salt.

Products

It's lightweight wood is highly resistant to termites and shipworms. Its wood pulp can also be used to make paper. The wood pulp is also used in traditional medicine to treat illnesses that range from sore eyes to sciatica.

Fiber from the bark is highly durable but difficult to extract. Malaysians fashioned it into clothing. Material for tape cloth is obtained from the inner bark of young trees and branches.

Nutrition

Breadfruit is a relatively good source of iron, calcium, potassium, riboflavin, and niacin. The mature fruit is high in carbohydrates, low in fat and protein, and a good source of minerals and vitamins, especially B vitamins. The nutritional composition of breadfruit varies depending on the ripeness of the fruit as ripe breadfruit is more nutritious.

Medicinal uses

Decoction of the breadfruit leaf is believed to lower blood pressure, and is also said to relieve asthma. Crushed leaves are applied on the tongue as a treatment for thrush. Ashes from burned leaves are used on skin infections. A powder of roasted leaves is employed as a home remedy for enlarged spleen.

Toasted flowers are rubbed on the gums around an aching tooth.

The latex is used on skin diseases and is bandaged on the spine to relieve sciatica. Diluted latex is taken internally to overcome diarrhea.

Sapodilla

2009-10-21T04:26:00.000-07:00

Sapodilla (Manilkara achras [Mill. (Fosberg)]) is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the West Indies. It is grown in huge quantities in India, Mexico and was introduced to the Philippines during Spanish colonisation.

Description

Sapodilla grows to 3-4 m tall. It is wind-resistant and the bark is rich in a white, gummy latex called chicle. The ornamental leaves are medium green and glossy. They are alternate, elliptic to ovate, 7-15 cm long, with an entire margin. The white flowers are inconspicuous and bell-like, with a six-lobed corolla.

The fruit is a large ellipsoid berry, 4-8 cm in diameter, very much resembling a smooth-skinned potato and containing 2-5 seeds. Inside, its flesh ranges from a pale yellow to an earthy brown color with a grainy texture akin to that of a well-ripened pear. The seeds are black and resemble beans, with a hook at one end that can catch in the throat if swallowed. The fruit has a high latex content and does not ripen until picked.

The flavor is exceptionally sweet and very tasty, with what can be described as a malty flavor. Many believe the flavor bears a striking resemblance to caramel. The unripe fruit is hard to the touch and contains high amounts of saponin, which has astringent properties similar to tannin, drying out the mouth.

The trees can only survive in warm, typically tropical environments, dying easily if the temperature drops below freezing. From germination, the sapodilla tree will usually take anywhere from 5-8 years to bear fruit. The sapodilla trees yield fruit twice a year, though flowering may continue year round. In Vietnam, the most famous varieties of sapodilla is grown in Xuân Đỉnh village, Hanoi.

Other names

Sapodilla is known as chikoo ("चिक्कू" or "chiku," "चीकू,") and sapota in India, sobeda/sofeda in eastern India and Bangladesh, Sabudheli ("ސަބުދެލި") in Maldives, sawo in Indonesia, hồng xiêm (lit. "Siamese persimmon"), lồng mứt or xa pô chê in Vietnam, lamoot (ละมุด) in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, sapodilla in Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago, naseberry in Jamaica, sapathilla or rata-mi in Sri Lanka, níspero in Colombia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Venezuela, nípero in Cuba, Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, dilly in The Bahamas, naseberry in the rest of the Caribbean, sapoti in Brazil, chico in the Philippines and chico sapote in Mexico, Hawaii, southern California and southern Florida. In Kelantanese Malay, the fruit is called "sawo nilo" which is closer to the original name than the standard Malay "ciku". In Chinese, the name is mistakenly translated by many people roughly as "ginseng fruit" (人參果), though this is also the name used for the pepino, an unrelated fruit; it should instead be "heart fruit" (人心果) because it is shaped like the heart.

UK gets biofuels research centre

2009-10-18T00:49:00.000-07:00

A centre that will act as the hub for biofuels research has been launched by Science Minister Lord Drayson.

The £27m institute has been tasked with developing economically competitive and environmentally sound alternatives to fossil fuels.

Last year, the government delayed its plans to increase the amount of biofuel blended into petrol and diesel.

Greenhouse gas emissions from road transport continue to grow

According to government figures, the transport sector accounts for about 25% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions.

The Sustainable Bioenergy Centre, which will have hubs at six universities - including Cambridge, Dundee, York and Nottingham - has been established by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).

'Practical solutions'

"The UK has a world-leading research base in plant and microbial science," said BBSRC chief executive Professor Douglas Kell.

"The centre draws together some of these world-beating scientists in order to help develop technology and understanding to support the sustainable bioenergy sector," he added.

"By working closely with industrial partners, the centre's scientists will be able to quickly translate their progress into practical solutions to all our benefit and ultimately, by supporting the sustainable bioenergy sector, help to create thousands of new 'green collar' jobs in the UK."

While other sectors have curtailed or reduced overall emissions, CO2 from transport has continued to rise.

In an attempt to address the problem, the UK government introduced the "Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation" in April 2008, which required 2.5% of all the fuel sold at petrol stations to be biofuels.

Ministers originally had intended to increase this to 5% by 2010, but accepted a recommendation by the Gallagher Review to delay this until at least 2013.

Non-food crops, such as jatropha, do not distort food prices

Slowing the biofuel bonanza

Mounting pressure from environmentalists has also led to the European Union revising its targets.

It had stipulated that 10% of transport fuel had to be biofuels by 2020, but this was modified in December 2008.

Now, the 10% target can be met by any renewable source, including fuel cells, hydrogen or solar power.

Once widely viewed as an acceptable alternative to fossil fuels, biofuels have fallen foul of environmental concerns in recent years.

The global surge in biofuel production led to questions being asked about how the impacts of the supposedly green fuel.

Some production methods, especially in South-East Asia, led to huge areas of old-growth rainforests being felled and burned, only to be replaced by vast oil palm plantations.

Not only did it undermine efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions, conservationists said it threatened the long-term survival of many endangered species, such as orangutans.

Robbing Peter

Another impact was the effect biofuels were having on global food prices. As the demand for the biodiesel and bio-ethanol grew, many farmers were selling their crops to fuel producers rather than food producers.

This, combined with a series of poor harvests around the world, led to prices reaching unprecedented levels.

However, scientists at the BBSRC centre plan to focus their efforts on "second generation" biofuels.

These fuels can be generated from a wider range of feedstocks, meaning any plant-derived materials, or biomass, not just food crops.

This means that second generation biofuels are generally more efficient, are not in conflict with food supplies, and have a smaller environmental impact.

However, as this process is much more complex, it is also more expensive and struggles to be commercially competitive.

The new centre hopes to make "sustainable bioenergy a practical solution" by improving the yield and quality of non-food biomass, and also improving the processes used to convert this into biofuels.

Swedes divided over bunny biofuel

2009-10-18T00:44:00.000-07:00

Residents in Stockholm are divided over reports that rabbits are being used to make biofuel.

The bodies of thousands of rabbits are fuelling a heating plant in central Sweden, local newspapers say.

Bodies of thousands of rabbits are reportedly fuelling a heating plant

The city of Stockholm has an annual cull of thousands of rabbits to protect the capital's parks and green spaces.

The rabbits, not native to Sweden, are mainly the offspring of pets released by owners, and are said to be destroying parks in the capital.

Since they have no natural predators, the city administration of Stockholm employs hunters to kill the rabbits.

Tommy Tuvunger, one of the hunters, told Germany's Spiegel website that 6,000 rabbits were culled last year, and another 3,000 this year.

"They are a very big problem," he said. "Once culled, the rabbits are frozen and when we have enough, a contractor comes and takes them away."

The frozen rabbits are then taken to a heating plant in Karlskoga which incinerates them to heat homes.

Bunny boilers

Leo Virta, the Managing Director of Konvex - the plant's suppliers - told the BBC that Konvex has developed a new way of processing animal waste with funding from the EU as part of the Biomal project.

He says that with this new method, raw animal material is crushed, ground and then pumped to a boiler where it is burned together with wood chips, peat or waste to produce renewable heat.

"It is a good system as it solves the problem of dealing with animal waste and it provides heat," said Mr Virta.

Reaction in Sweden has been divided, said James Savage, managing editor of The Local - an online news service covering Sweden.

"In the town where they are burning them the reaction of the residents is quite relaxed," Mr Savage told the BBC World Service. "But in Stockholm there's the big city attitude of the rabbits being cute.

"That's amongst some people, particularly among some animal rights activists who think this is not a good way to treat rabbits."

Butterfly

2009-10-18T00:43:00.001-07:00

Male Heliconius charithoni butterflies sit on and guard the pupae of female butterflies, mating with the females as soon as they emerge. A study led by Catalina Estrada from the University of Texas at Austin, US, has revealed how males assess the maturity and sex of the pupae.

Maldives cabinet makes a splash

2009-10-18T00:40:00.000-07:00

The government of the Maldives has held a cabinet meeting underwater to highlight the threat of global warming to the low-lying Indian Ocean nation.

President Mohamed Nasheed and his cabinet signed a document calling for global cuts in carbon emissions.

Ministers spent half an hour on the sea bed, communicating with white boards and hand signals.

The president said the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen this December cannot be allowed to fail.

At a later press conference while still in the water, President Nasheed was asked what would happen if the summit fails. "We are going to die," he replied.

The Maldives stand an average of 2.1 metres (7ft) above sea level, and the government says they face being wiped out if oceans rise.

"We're now actually trying to send our message, let the world know what is happening, and what will happen to the Maldives if climate change is not checked," President Nasheed said.

"If the Maldives cannot be saved today we do not feel that there is much of a chance for the rest of the world," he added.

Military minders

Three of the 14 cabinet ministers missed the underwater meeting, about 20 minutes by boat from the capital, Male, because two were not given medical permission and another was abroad, officials said.

President Nasheed and other cabinet members taking part had been practising their slow breathing to get into the right mental frame for the meeting, a government source said.

The cabinet were joined by instructors and military escorts

About 5m underwater, in a blue-green lagoon on a small island used for military training, they were observed by a clutch of snorkelling journalists.

Each minister was accompanied by a diving instructor and a military minder.

While underwater, they signed a document ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December, calling on all nations to cut their carbon emissions.

World leaders at the summit aim to create a new agreement to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

Maldives government dives for climate change

2009-10-17T12:52:00.000-07:00

GIRIFUSHI, Maldives – Members of the Maldives' Cabinet donned scuba gear and used hand signals Saturday at an underwater meeting staged to highlight the threat of global warming to the lowest-lying nation on earth.

President Mohammed Nasheed and 13 other government officials submerged and took their seats at a table on the sea floor — 20 feet (6 meters) below the surface of a lagoon off Girifushi, an island usually used for military training.

With a backdrop of coral, the meeting was a bid to draw attention to fears that rising sea levels caused by the melting of polar ice caps could swamp this Indian Ocean archipelago within a century. Its islands average 7 feet (2.1 meters) above sea level.

"What we are trying to make people realize is that the Maldives is a frontline state. This is not merely an issue for the Maldives but for the world," Nasheed said.

As bubbles floated up from their face masks, the president, vice president, Cabinet secretary and 11 ministers signed a document calling on all countries to cut their carbon dioxide emissions.

The issue has taken on urgency ahead of a major U.N. climate change conference scheduled for December in Copenhagen. At that meeting countries will negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol with aims to cut the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that scientists blame for causing global warming by trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Wealthy nations want broad emissions cuts from all countries, while poorer ones say industrialized countries should carry most of the burden.

Dozens of Maldives soldiers guarded the event Saturday, but the only intruders were groupers and other fish.

Nasheed had already announced plans for a fund to buy a new homeland for his people if the 1,192 low-lying coral islands are submerged. He has promised to make the Maldives, with a population of 350,000, the world's first carbon-neutral nation within a decade.

"We have to get the message across by being more imaginative, more creative and so this is what we are doing," he said in an interview on a boat en route to the dive site.

Nasheed, who has emerged as a key, and colorful, voice on climate change, is a certified diver, but the others had to take diving lessons in recent weeks.

Three ministers missed the underwater meeting because two were not given medical permission and another was abroad.

Arctic ice cap 'to disappear in future summers'

2009-10-16T01:11:00.000-07:00

LONDON – The Arctic ice cap will disappear completely in summer months within 20 to 30 years, a polar research team said as they presented findings from an expedition led by adventurer Pen Hadow.

It is likely to be largely ice-free during the warmer months within a decade, the experts added.

Veteran polar explorer Hadow and two other Britons went out on the Arctic ice cap for 73 days during the northern spring, taking more than 6,000 measurements and observations of the sea ice.

The raw data they collected from March to May has been analysed, producing some stark predictions about the state of the ice cap.

"The summer ice cover will completely vanish in 20 to 30 years but in less than that it will have considerably retreated," said Professor Peter Wadhams, head of the polar ocean physics group at Britain's prestigious Cambridge University.

"In about 10 years, the Arctic ice will be considered as open sea."

Starting off from northern Canada, Hadow, Martin Hartley and Ann Daniels skied over the ice cap to measure the thickness of the remaining ice, assessing its density and the depth of overlying snow, as well as taking weather and sea temperature readings.

Across their 450-kilometre (290 mile) route, the average thickness of the ice floes was 1.8 metres (six feet), while it was 4.8 metres when incorporating the compressed ridges of ice.

"An average thickness of 1.8 metres is typical of first year ice, which is more vulnerable in the summer. And the multi-year ice is shrinking back more rapidly," said Wadhams.

"It's a concrete example of global change in action.

"With a larger part of the region now in first year ice, it is clearly more vulnerable. The area is now more likely to become open water each summer, bringing forward the potential date when the summer sea ice will be completely gone."

Doctor Martin Sommerkorn, senior climate change adviser for the World Wide Fund for Nature's international Arctic programme, said the survey painted a sombre picture of the ice meltdown, which was happening "faster than we thought".

"Remove the Arctic ice cap and we are left with a very different and much warmer world," he said.

Loss of sea ice cover will "set in motion powerful climate feedbacks which will have an impact far beyond the Arctic itself," he added.

"This could lead to flooding affecting one quarter of the world's population, substantial increases in greenhouse gas emission from massive carbon pools and extreme global weather changes."

"Today's findings provide yet another urgent call for action to world leaders ahead of the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December to rapidly and effectively curb global greenhouse gas emissions."

Green spaces 'improve health'

2009-10-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

There is more evidence that living near a 'green space' has health benefits.

Research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health says the impact is particularly noticeable in reducing rates of mental ill health.

The best health benefits come from living less than a kilometre (0.62miles) from a green space

The annual rates of 15 out of 24 major physical diseases were also significantly lower among those living closer to green spaces.

One environmental expert said the study confirmed that green spaces create 'oases' of improved health around them.

The researchers from the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam looked at the health records of 350,000 people registered with 195 family doctors across the Netherlands.

Only people who had been registered with their GP for longer than 12 months were included because the study assumed this was the minimum amount of time people would have to live in an environment before any effect of it would be noticeable.

Health impact

The percentages of green space within a one and three kilometre (0.62 and 1.86 miles) radius of their home were calculated using their postcode.

On average, green space accounted for 42% of the residential area within one kilometre (0.62 miles) radius and almost 61% within a three kilometre (1.86 miles) radius of people's homes.

And the annual rates for 24 diseases in 7 different categories were calculated.

The health benefits for most of the diseases were only seen when the greenery was within a one kilometre ( 0.62 miles ) radius of the home.

DISEASES THAT BENEFIT MOST FROM GREEN SPACES

Coronary heart disease

Neck, shoulder, back, wrist and hand complaints

Depression and anxiety

Diabetes

Respiratory infections and asthma

Migraine and vertigo

Stomach bugs and urinary tract infections

Unexplained physical symptoms

The exceptions to this were anxiety disorders, infectious diseases of the digestive system and medically unexplained physical symptoms which were seen to benefit even when the green spaces were within three kilometres of the home.

The biggest impact was on anxiety disorders and depression.

Anxiety disorders

The annual prevalence of anxiety disorders for those living in a residential area containing 10% of green space within a one kilometre (0.62 miles) radius of their home was 26 per 1000 whereas for those living in an area containing 90% of green space it was 18 per 1000.

For depression the rates were 32 per 1000 for the people in the more built up areas and 24 per 1000 for those in the greener areas.

The researchers also showed that this relation was strongest for children younger than 12.

They were 21% less likely to suffer from depression in the greener areas.

Two unexpected findings were that the greener spaces did not show benefits for high blood pressure and that the relation appeared stronger for people aged 46 to 65 than for the elderly.

The researchers think the green spaces help recovery from stress and offer greater opportunities for social contacts.

They say the free physical exercise and better air quality could also contribute.

Dr Jolanda Maas of the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam, said: "It clearly shows that green spaces are not just a luxury but they relate directly to diseases and the way people feel in their living environments."

"Most of the diseases which are related to green spaces are diseases which are highly prevalent and costly to treat so policy makers need to realise that this is something they may be able to diminish with green spaces."

Professor Barbara Maher of the Lancaster Environment Centre said the study confirmed that green spaces create oases of improved health around them especially for children.

She said: "At least part of this 'oasis' effect probably reflects changes in air quality.

"Anything that reduces our exposure to the modern-day 'cocktail' of atmospheric pollutants has got to be a good thing."

Milkfish

2008-12-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

The milkfish, (Chanos chanos), is an important food fish in Southeast Asia and is the sole living species in the family Chanidae. (About seven extinct species in five additional genera have been reported.)

Milkfish have a generally symmetrical and streamlined appearance, with a sizable forked caudal fin. They can grow to 1.7 m but are most often about 1 meter in length. They have no teeth and generally feed on algae and invertebrates.

They occur in the Indian Ocean and across the Pacific Ocean, tending to school around coasts and islands with reefs. The young fry live at sea for two to three weeks and then migrate to mangrove swamps, estuaries, and sometimes lakes and return to sea to mature sexually and reproduce.

The fry are collected from rivers and raised in ponds where they grow very quickly and are then are sold either fresh, frozen, canned, or smoked.

The milkfish is a national symbol of the Philippines, where it is called bangus. Because milkfish is notorious for being much bonier than other food fish in the country, deboned milkfish, or "boneless bangus," has become popular in stores and markets.

Boracay Island to be a climate friendly tourist destination: Greenpeace

2008-12-17T09:58:00.000-08:00

Boracay, PHILIPPINES — Greenpeace called on tourists and the tourism industry in Boracay island to join hands to make Boracay the country's model climate-friendly tourist destination.

As part of 'Save the Climate, Save Boracay,' activities, Greenpeace and experts from the Green Architecture Movement of the United Architects, Aklan Electric Cooperative (AKELCO), and Solar, Wind and Electric Power, Inc. (SWEP), conducted a workshop on energy efficiency and what resorts can do to lessen their climate footprint. A Renewable Energy (RE) exhibition demonstrating how solar power can work for resorts as well as tourists was also organized by Solar Generation, Greenpeace's youth movement.

A Paraw or local sailboat with the message "Save the Climate, Save Boracay" sails by Boracay Island, one of the Philippines' premier tourist destinations. Greenpeace today called on tourists and the tourism industry in the island to join hands to make Boracay the country’s model climate-friendly tourist destination.

"This is an initiative to focus attention on the climate change issue and the need for all to take assertive action. Mitigating climate change is a matter of our very survival. Tourism that is so dependent on the natural and the socio-cultural environment needs to be in the forefront working with conservationists and all citizens in achieving this," said Greenpeace Southeast Asia Campaigner Beng Reyes-Ong

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the tourism sector has become a non-negligible contributor to climate change through greenhouse-gas emissions largely from the transport and accommodation of tourists, contributing as much as 5% of all carbon dioxide emissions from human activities(1).

But at the same time, the tourism sector is particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts. For example, in the Philippines, eight out of twelve provinces of the Department of Tourism's 'Anchor Destinations' are vulnerable to permanent or episodic flooding. These sites include premier beaches, mangrove forests and world-class dive spots.

"Going renewable and becoming energy efficient to address climate change is a win-win situation. Resorts will save money by saving electricity, and at the same time will contribute to mitigating climate change impacts. Through the project, tourists can also learn about climate change solutions from the resorts, and they can go back home or visit other places with the awareness that each of us can make a difference in stopping global warming," Ong added.

'Save the Climate, Save Boracay,' the first project of its kind in the Philippines, was launched last June 2008 during the 'Quit Coal, Save the Climate' Philippine tour of the Greenpeace ship M.Y. Rainbow Warrior. The project is based on a manifesto signed by Boracay's tourism industry stakeholders. Among the points in the manifesto are: the inclusion of energy efficiency measures and promotion of renewable energy use as part of the environmental management plans for the island, particularly in the construction or expansion of establishments and the provision of regular energy audits, skillshares and workshops for establishments to ensure the continuation and replication of successful practices in the areas of energy and water conservation, as well as ecological waste management.

'Save the Climate, Save Boracay' is supported by the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of Tourism (DOT), the local government of Malay, Aklan, Task Force Boracay, Boracay Foundation, Inc. (BFI), Philippine Chamber of Commerce-Boracay (PCCI-Boracay), Boracay Association of Resorts, Restaurants & Independent Allies (BARRIA). The initiative is made possible through a grant from the Foundation for the Philippine Environment. Greenpeace is an independent, global campaigning organization that acts to change attitudes and behavior, to protect and conserve the environment, and to promote peace.

Greener Electronics – Major companies fail to show climate leadership

2008-12-17T09:57:00.000-08:00

Manila, PHILIPPINES — The latest edition of our Guide to Greener Electronics has revealed that very few firms are showing true climate leadership. Despite many green claims, major companies like Dell, Microsoft, Lenovo, LG, Samsung and Apple are failing to support the necessary levels of global cuts in emissions and make the absolute cuts in their own emissions that are required to tackle climate change.

The electronics industry needs to face up to the problem of e-waste and recycling and take on the challenge of climate leadership.

With world governments discussing a vital global deal on emission cuts this December in Poznan and concluding in Copenhagen at the end of 2009, it's time electronics companies showed climate leadership in two vital areas now – giving their high profile support to the levels of global emissions cuts we need to tackle climate change and showing it can be done by making absolute cuts in their own emissions.

Of the 18 market-leading companies included in the Guide, only Sharp, Fujitsu Siemens and Philips show full support for the necessary cuts of 30 percent for industrial nations by 2020. Only HP and Philips have made commitments to make substantial cuts in their own emissions. All the other companies in the Guide make vague or essentially meaningless statements about global emissions reductions and have no plans to make absolute emissions cuts themselves. With the need for deep emission cuts becoming ever more urgent it's vital big companies support a global deal and take effective measures now to reduce their overall emissions.

The Guide to Greener Electronics is our way of getting the electronics industry to take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of its products. We want it to face up to the problem of e-waste and take on the challenge of tackling climate change.

First launched in August 2006, the Guide ranks the leaders of the mobile phone, computer, TV and games console markets according to their policies and practices on toxic chemicals, recycling and energy. Since June 2008, the Guide has ranked companies on five climate and energy criteria. In this current edition we're focussing on climate leadership - not only because the global climate needs it but because electronics firms have a big role to play in the low-carbon economy of the future.

Our Toxics Campaigner Beau Baconguis, sees a missed opportunity: "It is disappointing that such innovative and fast-changing companies are moving so slowly, when they could be turning the regulation we need on global emissions into a golden business opportunity."

Shop green!

Filipinos buy more electronic products during the holiday season. Each year-end, malls and shops are flooded with the newest models of laptops, cell-phones, game consoles, televisions sets, etc, at discounted or zero-interest prices. But how do we know if what we’re buying is “green”? Here are some tips:

Research before you buy the product
Check if the product is RoHS compliant
Look for the Energy Star, or TCO certification
Find out if the company has take-back programs in your country
Find out if the company has repair centers in your country
Buy products whose parts are upgradeable and replaceable
Buy products that are durable and made to last
Think twice before buying.

Click here to download Our Holiday Guide to Green Electronics

The low carbon future

To achieve a significant reduction in emissions we'll need measures such as much more efficient transport networks, smarter power grids and home appliances, sweeping improvements to manufacturing efficiency and buildings that use far less energy. In all these areas, electronics are vital in achieving these improvements.

Taking into account all criteria in the Guide, Nokia remains top, Toshiba makes a big improvement to 3rd place and Sharp and Motorola make big jumps up the ranking. The big PC companies such as Dell, HP, Apple and Acer drop down. Dell continues to be overtaken by other companies, with an unchanged score of 4.7. Although Apple drops a place, it improves its overall score slightly to 4.3, with much better reporting on the carbon footprint of its products. Apple has also recently show leadership on removing the worst toxics substances with new iPods free of toxics brominated flame retardants and PVC. All Apple products should be free of these substances by the end of 2008, which will challenge other PC makers to follow their lead.

Global day of action - 2008

2008-12-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

International — People across the world took to the streets for a Global Day of Action on Saturday, to tell the governments meeting in Poznan, Poland for crucial UN climate negotiations, that the world is watching them.

A human banner that reads: "Aksi Untuk Iklim" (Action for Climate) is displayed by activists from Indonesia, during the Global Day of Action on Climate Change.

Greenpeace volunteers in 23 countries from Australia to Italy to Mexico to the Philippines to Turkey to the US joined or led a series of protests, demonstrations and outreach events to ensure that Ministers arriving in Poznan listen to the will of their citizens, and get serious about climate action.

"The world is watching governments in Poznan" said Mareike Britten, Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner. "Saturday’s actions clearly show that people across the world recognise that it’s time for governments to get serious about climate action."

From a flash mob of people in swimming gear in Amsterdam, to protests in Red Square, Moscow to banner messages on Aztec pyramids in Mexico, to installing solar panels in Thailand, and giving a solar powered Parol (a Filipino Christmas lantern) to the Philippine senate, to a giant postcards reading "Dear World Leaders, we are ready to save the climate" in Boston, Chicago, New York and San Francisco, to a boat protest on the Ganga River in India, our map below highlights key Greenpeace activities across the world.

Take action! The global day of action is over, but it’s not too late for you tell your government you are watching them. Join activists from around the world by uploading your photo to be projected at the Poznan meetings.

Caricature Plant

2008-11-17T20:14:00.000-08:00

Caricature plant or handeleum Graphtophyllum pictum has long been known as the cure for piles. Apparently, it can also be utilized as antiinflamation. More than that, handeleum is potential for women who undergo menopause. In fact, this leaf can also lower bad cholesterol content (LDL). In addition, the chemical content of caricature plant is effective to prevent the growth of plague, mutant streptococcus and fungus on artificial teeth.

Graptophyllum pictum
Habit at Kepaniwai, Maui

Graptophyllum pictum
Habit at Enchanting Floral Gardens of Kula, Maui

Graptophyllum pictum
Leaves at Lahainaluna, Maui

Graptophyllum pictum
Habit at Lahainaluna, Maui

Graptophyllum pictum
Habit at Kula Ace Hardware and Nursery, Maui

Graptophyllum pictum
Leaves at Lahainaluna, Maui

The Acanthaceae are mostly herbs or shrubs comprising about 250 genera and 2,500 species, including twining forms. The leaves are simple , opposite and decussate; stipules are lacking. The flowers are bisexual , zygomorphic, and usually are associated with conspicuous , often brightly colored bracts. The calyx is usually deeply 4-5 lobed or sometimes is highly reduced with more numerous minute teeth. The corolla is sympetalous , usually 5-merous, mostly zygomorphic, and commonly 2 lipped. The androecium usually consists of 4 didynamous stamens or only 2 stamens adnate to the corolla tube or epigynous zone, alternate with the lobes . The gynoecium consists of a single compound pistil of 2 carpels, a single style , and a superior ovary with 2 locules, each with usually 2-10 axile ovules in one or two collateral vertical tiers . An annular nectary disk is usually found around the base of the ovary. The fruit is commonly an elastically dehiscent loculicidal capsule. The seed stalk or funiculus of each seed is modified into a hook shaped jaculator or retinaculum that functions in flinging out the seeds during dehiscence.

Graptophyllum pictum 'Chocolate' at the New York Botanical Garden greenhouse

Recommended Temperature Zone:
USDA: 10-12

Frost Tolerance: The roots survive down to 25°F (-3.5°C)

Sun Exposure: Shade to full sun

Origin: New Guinea

Growth Habits: Evergreen shrub, 2 feet to 8 feet tall (60 cm-2.4 m), 2 feet to 5 feet in spread (60 cm-1.5 m); glossy, leathery, elliptic leaves, up to 6 inches long (15 cm)

Watering Needs: Does better when the soil is kept uniformly moist

Propagation: Softwood stem cuttings, will root in water.

Zingiber officinale

2008-11-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

Ginger is commonly used as a cooking spice throughout the world. It is the rhizome of the perennial plant Zingiber officinale in the family Zingiberaceae. The ginger plant has a long history of cultivation, known to have originated in Asia and then spread to India, Southeast Asia, West Africa, and the Caribbean.

Chemistry

Ginger section

Ginger contains up to three percent of an essential oil that gives it fragrance. The main constituents are sesquiterpenoids with (-)-zingiberene as the main component. Lesser amounts of other sesquiterpenoids (β-sesquiphellandrene, bisabolene and farnesene) and a small monoterpenoid fraction (β-phelladrene, cineol, and citral) have also been identified.

The pungent taste of ginger is due to nonvolatile phenylpropanoid-derived compounds, particularly gingerols and shogaols. The latter are formed from the former when ginger is dried or cooked. Zingerone is also produced from gingerols during this process, and it is less pungent and has a spicy-sweet aroma. Ginger is also a minor chemical irritant, and because of this was used as a horse suppository by pre-World War I mounted regiments for figging.

Ginger has a sialagogue action, stimulating the production of saliva. Without saliva it is harder to chew and therefore makes it harder to swallow.

Usage

Culinary uses

25.4-pound ginger "root"

Pickled ginger

Ginger root, raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)

Energy 20 kcal 80 kJ

Carbohydrates	17.77g
- Sugars 1.7 g
- Dietary fiber 2 g
Fat	0.75 g
Protein	1.82 g
Thiamin (Vit. B1) 0.025 mg	2%
Riboflavin (Vit. B2) 0.034 mg	2%
Niacin (Vit. B3) 0.75 mg	5%
Pantothenic acid (B5) 0.203 mg	4%
Vitamin B6 0.16 mg	12%
Folate (Vit. B9) 11 μg	3%
Vitamin C 5 mg	8%
Calcium 16 mg	2%
Iron 0.6 mg	5%
Magnesium 43 mg	12%
Phosphorus 34 mg	5%
Potassium 415 mg	9%
Zinc 0.34 mg	3%

Percentages are relative to US
recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA Nutrient database

Young ginger rhizomes are juicy and fleshy with a very mild taste. They are often pickled in vinegar or sherry as a snack or just cooked as an ingredient in many dishes. They can also be stewed in boiling water to make ginger tea, to which honey is often added as a sweetener; sliced orange or lemon fruit may also be added. Mature ginger roots are fibrous and nearly dry. The juice from old ginger roots is extremely potent and is often used as a spice in Indian recipes and Chinese cuisine to flavor dishes such as seafood or mutton and vegetarian recipes. Powdered dry ginger root (ginger powder) is typically used to add spiciness to gingerbread and other recipes. Fresh ginger can be successfully substituted for ground ginger and should be done at a ratio of 6 parts fresh for 1 part ground.

Ginger is also made into candy and used as a flavoring for cookies, crackers and cake, and is the main flavor in ginger ale-- a sweet, carbonated, non-alcoholic beverage, as well as the similar, but somewhat spicier beverage ginger beer which is popular in the Caribbean.

Fresh ginger should be peeled before using to cook. For storage, the ginger should be wrapped tightly in a towel and placed in a plastic bag, and can be stored in a refrigerator for about three weeks and up to three months if storing in a freezer.

Regional uses

In Western cuisine, ginger is traditionally restricted to sweet foods, such as ginger ale, gingerbread, ginger snaps, ginger cake and ginger biscuits. A ginger-flavored liqueur called Canton is produced in Jarnac, France. Green ginger wine is a ginger flavored wine produced in the United Kingdom, traditionally sold in a green glass bottle. Ginger is also used as a spice added to hot coffee and tea. In the Caribbean, ginger is a popular spice for cooking, and making drinks such as sorrel, a seasonal drink made during the Christmas season. Jamaicans make ginger beer both as a carbonated beverage, and also fresh in their homes. The ginger tea is often made from fresh ginger as well.

In Arabic, ginger is called Zanjabil and in some parts of the Middle East ginger powder is used as a spice for coffee.

In India, ginger is called Aadu in South African language/Afrikaans, "Gemmer", in Gujarati, "Shunti" in Kannada language[Karnataka], Allam in Telugu, Inji in Tamil and Malayalam, Alay in Marathi, "Aduwa" in Nepali, and Adrak in Hindi and Urdu. Fresh ginger is one of the main spices used for making pulse and lentil curries and other vegetable preparations. It is used fresh to spice tea especially in winter. Also, ginger powder is used in certain food preparations that are made particularly for expecting women and feeding mothers, the most popular one being Katlu which is a mixture of gum resin, ghee, nuts and sugar.

In south India, ginger is used in the production of a candy called Inji-murappa ("ginger candy" from Tamil). This candy is mostly sold by vendors to bus passengers in bus stops and in small tea shops as a locally produced item. Candied or crystallized ginger (ginger cured with sugar) is also very famous around these parts. Additionally, in Tamil Nadu, especially in the Tanjore belt, a variety of ginger which is less spicy is used when tender to make fresh pickle with the combination of lemon juice or vinegar, salt and tender green chillies. This kind of pickle was generally made before the invention of refrigeration and stored for a maximum of 4-5 days. The pickle gains a mature flavor when the juices cook the ginger over the first 24 hours. Ginger is also added as a flavoring in tea.

In Japan, ginger is pickled to make beni shoga and gari or grated and used raw on tofu or noodles. It is also made into a candy called shoga no sato zuke.

In Burma, ginger is used in a salad dish called gyin-tho, which consists of shredded ginger preserved in oil, and a variety of nuts and seeds.

Indonesia has a famous beverage that called Wedang Jahe, which is made from ginger and palm sugar; Indonesians also use ground ginger root, called jahe or djahe, as a frequent ingredient in local recipes.

In traditional Korean kimchi, ginger is finely minced and added to the ingredients of the spicy paste just before the fermenting process.

In South East Asia, the flower of a the Torch ginger (Etlingera eliator) is used in cooking. The unopened flower is known in the Malay language as Bunga Kantan, and is used in salads and also as garnish for sour-savoury soups, like Assam Laksa.

In the Ivory Coast, ginger is ground and mixed with orange, pineapple and lemon to produce a juice called Nyamanku.

In China, sliced or whole ginger root is often paired with savory dishes, such as fish. However, candied ginger is sometimes a component of Chinese candy boxes, and a herbal tea can also be prepared from ginger.

Medical uses

The medical form of ginger historically was called "Jamaica ginger"; it was classified as a stimulant and carminative, and used frequently for dyspepsia and colic. It was also frequently employed to disguise the taste of medicines. Ginger is on the FDA's 'generally recognized as safe' list, though it does interact with some medications, including warfarin. Ginger is contraindicated in people suffering from gallstones as the herb promotes the release of bile from the gallbladder. Ginger may also decrease joint pain from arthritis, though studies on this have been inconsistent, and may have blood thinning and cholesterol lowering properties that may make it useful for treating heart disease.

The characteristic odor and flavor of ginger root is caused by a mixture of zingerone, shoagoles and gingerols, volatile oils that compose about one to three percent of the weight of fresh ginger. In laboratory animals, the gingerols increase the motility of the gastrointestinal tract and have analgesic, sedative, antipyretic and antibacterial properties.

Diarrhea

Ginger compounds are active against a form of diarrhea which is the leading cause of infant death in developing countries. Zingerone is likely to be the active constituent against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin-induced diarrhea.

Nausea

Ginger has been found effective by multiple studies for treating nausea caused by seasickness, morning sickness and chemotherapy, though ginger was not found superior over a placebo for post-operative nausea.

Folk medicinal uses

There are a variety of uses suggested for ginger. Tea brewed from ginger is a folk remedy for colds. Three to four leaves of Tulsi taken along with a piece of Ginger on an empty stomach is an effective cure for congestion, cough and cold. Ginger ale and ginger beer have been recommended as "stomach settlers" for generations in countries where the beverages are made, and ginger water was commonly used to avoid heat cramps in the US. Ginger has also been historically used to treat inflammation which several scientific studies support, though one arthritis trial showed ginger to be no better than a placebo or ibuprofen. Research on rats suggests that ginger may be useful for treating diabetes.

Local uses

A pack of ginger powder

In the West, powdered dried ginger root is made into capsules and sold in pharmacies for medicinal use.

In the United States, ginger is generally recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration, though it is not approved for the treatment or cure of any disease and is sold as an unregulated dietary supplement
In India, ginger is applied as a paste to the temples to relieve headache and consumed when suffering from a cold,people use ginger for making tea, in food etc.
In Burma, ginger and a local sweetener made from palm tree juice (Htan nyat) are boiled together and taken to prevent the flu
In China, a drink made with sliced ginger cooked in sweetened water or a cola is used as a folk medicine for common cold
In Indonesia, a type of ginger known as Jahe is used as a herbal preparation to reduce fatigue, reducing "winds" in the blood, prevent and cure rheumatism and controlling poor dietary habits
In Democratic Republic of the Congo, ginger is crushed and mixed with mango-tree sap to make Tangawisi juice, which is considered as a universal panacea
In the Philippines a traditional health drink called "salabat" is made for consumption with breakfast by boiling chopped ginger and adding sugar and is considered good for sore throat.
In the United States, ginger is used to prevent motion and morning sickness.

Reactions

Allergic reactions to ginger generally result in a rash and though generally recognized as safe, ginger can cause heartburn, bloating, gas, belching and nausea, particularly if taken in powdered form. Unchewed fresh ginger may result in intestinal blockage, and individuals who have had ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease or blocked intestines may react badly to large quantities of fresh ginger. Ginger can also adversely affect individuals with gallstones. There are also suggestions that ginger may affect blood pressure, clotting, and heart rhythms.

Horticulture

Ginger field

Ginger produces clusters of white and pink flower buds that bloom into yellow flowers. Because of the aesthetic appeal and the adaptivity of the plant to warm climates, ginger is often used as landscaping around subtropical homes. It is a perennial reed-like plant with annual leafy stems, three to four feet high.

Historical methods of gathering the root describes, when the stalk withers, it is immediately scalded, or washed and scraped, in order to kill it and prevent sprouting. The former method, applied generally to the older and poorer roots, produces Black Ginger; the latter, gives White Ginger. The natural color of the "white" scraped ginger is a pale buff--it is often whitened by bleaching or liming, but generally at the expense of some of its real value.

Production trends

Ginger output in 2005

India with over 30% of global share now leads in global production of ginger replacing China(~20.5%) which has slipped to second position followed by Indonesia(~12.7%), Nepal(~11.5%) and Nigeria(~10%).

Top Ten Ginger Producers — 11 June 2008
Country	Production (Tonnes)	Footnote
India	420000	F
People's Republic of China	285000	F
Indonesia	177000	F
Nepal	158905
Nigeria	138000	F
Bangladesh	57000	F
Japan	42000	F
Thailand	34000	F
Philippines	28000	F
Sri Lanka	8270
World	1387445	A
No symbol = official figure, P = official figure, F = FAO estimate, * = Unofficial/Semi-official/mirror data, C = Calculated figure A = Aggregate(may include official, semi-official or estimates); Source: Food And Agricultural Organization of United Nations: Economic And Social Department: The Statistical Devision

i need hepl finding out where ginger came from ?

Similar species

Myoga (Zingiber mioga Roscoe) appears in Japanese cuisine; the flower buds are the part eaten.

Another plant in the Zingiberaceae family, galangal, is used for similar purposes as ginger in Thai cuisine. Galangal is also called Thai ginger. Also referred to as galangal, fingerroot (Boesenbergia rotunda), or Chinese ginger or the Thai krachai, is used in cooking and medicine.

A dicotyledonous native species of eastern North America, Asarum canadense, is also known as "wild ginger", and its root has similar aromatic properties, but it is not related to true ginger. The plant also contains aristolochic acid, a carcinogenic compound.

Zingiber officinale

Conservation status

Secure

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Zingiberales
Family:	Zingiberaceae
Genus:	Zingiber
Species:	Z. officinale

Binomial name

Zingiber officinale

Lime Berry

2008-11-13T10:55:00.000-08:00

Triphasia trifolia (syn. Limonia trifolia Burm. f., Triphasia aurantiola Lour.; also called limeberry, lime berry, or limoncito) is a species of Triphasia in the family Rutaceae, native to tropical southeastern Asia in Malaysia and possibly elsewhere.

It is an evergreen shrub (rarely a small tree) growing to 3 m tall. The leaves are trifoliate, glossy dark green, each leaflet 2-4 cm long and 1.5-2 cm broad. The flowers are white, with three petals 10-13 mm long and 4 mm broad. The fruit is a red, edible hesperidium 10-15 mm diameter, similar to a small Citrus fruit.

Cultivation and uses

It is grown for its edible fruit, and has been widely introduced to other subtropical to tropical regions of the world; it has become naturalized on a number of islands in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The Limeberry has been used as a bonsai plant.

This tree is also considered a weed in other introduced locations.

Common name:	Lime berry	Family:	Rutaceae
Author:	(Burm. f.) P. Wils.	Botanical references:	200
Synonyms:	Triphasia aurantiola (Lour.), Limonia trifolia
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	E. Asia - China.
Habitat:	Arid ground[245].
Plants For A Future Rating (1-5):	2

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Limonia trifoliata[G] T. trifoliata[G,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Jeruk Kingkip [E], Limau Keresek [E], Limau Kiah [E], Limau Kikir [E], Limeberry [B,P], Orange Berry [E],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	trifolia = 3 leaves;
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Guam; Java

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen shrub growing to 3m. It is hardy to zone 10. It is in leaf all year. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2 out of 5 for usefulness.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Sunny Edge, By Walls, By South Wall, By West Wall.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit - raw or cooked. Red and fleshy[1], the fully ripe fruit has an agreeable sweet taste. Aromatic, juicy and somewhat mucilaginous, the fruit can also be pickled or made into jams etc. The fruit is about 15mm in diameter.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Skin.

The leaves are applied to the body in the treatment of diarrhoea, colic and skin diseases.

Other Uses

Incense.

The leaves are used as an aromatic bath. The leaves are used as cosmetics.

A gum runs from the stem, though the report does not mention any uses for this gum.

Cultivation details

Prefers a moderately heavy loam with a generous amount of compost and sand added and a very sunny position. Prefers a pH between 5 and 6. Intolerant of water logging, strongly disliking winter wet.

Most reports say that this species is not hardy in Britain, requiring greenhouse protection, but one report says that a plant outdoors at Boslewick in Cornwall produces fruit.

Plants are sometimes cultivated for their edible fruit.

All parts of the plant are aromatic. The white flowers have a scent of orange blossom. The leaves are covered in pellucid dots and release a resinous scent when bruised. The fruits are lemon-scented.

Propagation

Seed - we have no information for this species but suggest sowing the seed in a warm greenhouse as soon as it is ripe if this is possible. Otherwise sow the seed in early spring in a warm greenhouse. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first two winters. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Consider giving them some protection from the cold for at least their first winter outdoors.

Scent

Fruit: Crushed: The berries are lemon-scented.
Flowers: Fresh: The white flowers have a scent of orange blossom.
Leaves: Crushed: The leaves are covered in pellucid dots and release a resinous scent when bruised.

Triphasia trifolia

Foliage and fruit

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Rutaceae
Genus:	Triphasia
Species:	T. trifolia

Binomial name

Triphasia trifolia

Orthosiphon is medical flowers

2008-11-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

Orthosiphon is a medicinal plant native to South East Asia and some parts of tropical Australia. It is an herbaceous shrub which grows to a height of 1.5 meters. Orthosiphon is a popular garden plant because of its unique flower, which is white and bluish with filaments resembling a cat's whiskers. In the wild, the plant can be seen growing in the forests and along roadsides.

Common names in Southeast Asia are Misai Kucing (Malaysia), Kumis Kucing and Remujung (Indonesia), and Yaa Nuat Maeo (Thailand). The scientific names are Orthosiphon stamineus Benth, Ocimum aristatum BI and Orthosiphon aristatus (Blume).

Medicinal uses

Orthosiphon is used for treating the ailments of the kidney, since it has a mild diuretic effect. It is also claimed to have anti-allergenic, anti-hypertensive and anti-inflammatory properties, and is commonly used for kidney stones and nephritis. Orthosiphon is sometimes used to treat gout, diabetes, hypertension and rheumatism. It is reportedly effective for anti-fungal and anti-bacterial purposes.

Research

Orthosiphon began to interest researchers early in the 20th century, when it was introduced to Europe as a popular herbal health tea.

Commercial products

Orthosiphon is available in many products treating for detoxification, water retention, hypertension, obesity or kidney stones. It comes in tablets, capsules, tea sachets, bottled drinks, raw herbs, dried leaves or extracts.

Orthosiphon stamineus, originates from tropical East Asia, is a pretty plant you can find in some people's gardens. Featuring long white or purple flowers with long stamens that looks just like a cat's whiskers . Easy to grow, quick to bloom, ethereal flowers and a real eye-catcher. It really makes a great addition for your garden. But the best part of this plant is not the flowers. This pretty plant is well known in south east asia as remedy for urinary system ailments and high blood pressure.

White Orthosiphon stamineus

In Indonesia, Malaysia and India this plant is long known as a medicinal herb. You can find it in easily in people's gardens ( and bushes too ) and they grow it for a good reason. This herb can help regulate blood sugar level. It's also mild diuretic which help to decrease blood pressure and improve removal of toxin from body. Ortoshiphon stamineus can also prevent and cure gout by flushing away acids accumulated in joints

Bladder stone, diabetes, gout rheumatism, kidney & urinary disorders, and high blood pressure are just some ailments this herb can cure. When combined with other herbs it can cure a wider range of ailments.

Indonesian call it kumis kucing and Malaysian named it malai kucing. Both has the same meaning "Cat's Whiskers".

Purple Orthosiphon stamineus

Skeptics of medicinal herb always shout about how dangerous herbs can be. So is this plant dangerous?

Yeah right...

For years thousands of people brewed this plant and drink it in the morning and afternoon just like tea ( thus the "Java Tea" ). I'm sure that will tell you just how "dangerous" this herb is.

If you want to brew your own Java Tea take about 25 grams of fresh leaflet (young leaves). Wash them clean and boil in two glasses of water for 15 minutes until reduced to one glass. Drink twice a day, half a glass in the morning and another in the afternoon. If you prefer you could also add honey or milk for better tasting tea.

If you doesn't have it in your garden or just prefer the simple way you can find quite a number of commercial product derived from cat whisker available in market. They come in sachets, capsule and other packaging. Sometimes they contain the combination cat's whiskers with Strobilanthes crispus (Kejibeling/Red Flame) and Sonchus arvensis (Sow Thistle). The combo attack from these tree herbs can really help getting rid of urinary problems and bladder stones too.

Doesn't have diabetes or urinary problems? You can still drink it too. About once or twice a week. This tea helps your kidney to cleanse your body from toxic and it almost never have any side effect. Just remember not to drink it excessively. Think of all medicinal herbs just like ordinary drugs. You should never drink too much of it.

A little warning here. Though it's very rare drinking this tea may have a slight side effects for some people. If you experience headaches and/or nausea after drinking the tea then stop. You may just drunk too much or your body just doesn't like it. It would be a good idea to see your doctor again and find other methods to cure your ailments.

So, if you could find a space in your garden why not add some cat's whiskers there. It's undoubtly pretty and you will have an everlasting stock of high blood pressure and urinary ailments medicine.

Catharanthus roseus (Madagascar Periwinkle)

2008-11-13T09:39:00.000-08:00

Catharanthus roseus (Madagascar Periwinkle) is a species of Catharanthus native and endemic to Madagascar. Synonyms include Vinca rosea (the basionym), Ammocallis rosea, and Lochnera rosea; other English names occasionally used include Cape Periwinkle, Rose Periwinkle, Rosy Periwinkle, and "Old-maid".

In the wild, it is an endangered plant; the main cause of decline is habitat destruction by slash and burn agriculture. It is also however widely cultivated and is naturalised in subtropical and tropical areas of the world.

It is an evergreen subshrub or herbaceous plant growing to 1 m tall. The leaves are oval to oblong, 2.5–9 cm long and 1–3.5 cm broad, glossy green, hairless, with a pale midrib and a short petiole 1–1.8 cm long; they are arranged in opposite pairs. The flowers are white to dark pink with a darker red centre, with a basal tube 2.5-3 cm long and a corolla 2–5 cm diameter with five petal-like lobes. The fruit is a pair of follicles 2–4 cm long and 3 mm broad.

The species has long been cultivated for herbal medicine and as an ornamental plant. In traditional Chinese medicine, extracts from it have been used to treat numerous diseases, including diabetes, malaria and Hodgkin's disease. The substances vinblastine and vincristine extracted from the plant are used in the treatment of leukemia.

This conflict between historical indigenous use, and recent patents on C.roseus-derived drugs by western pharmaceutical companies, without compensation, has led to accusations of biopiracy.

It can be dangerous if consumed orally. It can be hallucinogenic, and is cited (under its synonym Vinca rosea) in the Louisiana State Act 159.

Catharanthus roseus cultivated in Brazil as a garden plant

As an ornamental plant, it is appreciated for its hardiness in dry and nutritionally deficient conditions, popular in subtropical gardens where temperatures never fall below 5 °C to 7 °C, and as a warm-season bedding plant in temperate gardens. It is noted for its long flowering period, throughout the year in tropical conditions, and from spring to late autumn in warm temperate climates. Full sun and well-drained soil are preferred. Numerous cultivars have been selected, for variation in flower colour (white, mauve, peach, scarlet and reddish-orange), and also for tolerance of cooler growing conditions in temperate regions. Notable cultivars include 'Albus' (white flowers), 'Grape Cooler' (rose-pink; cool-tolerant), the Ocellatus Group (various colours), and 'Peppermint Cooler' (white with a red centre; cool-tolerant).

Symptoms of phytoplasma infection

C. roseus is used in plant pathology as an experimental host for phytoplasmas. This is because it is easy to infect with a large majority of phytoplasmas, and also often has very distinctive symptoms such as phyllody and significantly reduced leaf size.

Catharanthus roseus

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Gentianales
Family:	Apocynaceae
Genus:	Catharanthus
Species:	C. roseus

Binomial name

Catharanthus roseus
(L.) G.Don

Synonyms

Vinca rosea

EU forest bail out falls short

2008-10-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

International — Forest destruction is costing the global economy US $2 to $5 trillion per year — more than Wall Street has lost since the start of the current financial crisis. After stalling for years, the European Commission has finally come out with a proposal for illegal logging legislation and recommendations to tackle deforestation. Unfortunately, the law doesn’t do enough to address deforestation and illegal logging or what it is really costing us.

If the last ancient forests and all the life that’s in them don’t get a little love from the Environmental Ministers they will soon be wiped out.

Over the last few months, more than 125,000 of you wrote to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, asking him to show a little Forest Love and put an end to the EU’s massive contribution to deforestation and illegal logging. Your message got to the EU Commission, their response just doesn’t go far enough.

EU forest footprint not getting any smaller

The proposed law won’t keep illegal timber out of the EU, or help you figure out if the flat-pack wardrobe you bought last Saturday is the result of forest crime. There’s no plan to make sure that businesses prove their wood is legal or to make sure that forest criminals bringing in illegal timber pay for their crimes. And while the commission recognises the damage being caused by the demand for agricultural commodities (such as soy beans, cattle and palm oil) as a major contributor to deforestation, it doesn’t suggest a plan to eliminate the problem. It commits only to more studies and exploring policy options.

The destruction of the world’s rainforests to make way for things like more palm oil plantations is driving climate change and pushing species such as the orang-utan, to the brink of extinction. Every time the rainforest is trashed, huge amounts of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere. The destruction of our rainforests accounts for a fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions – that’s more than all the planes, trains and cars in the world.

Baby Steps

But it’s not all bad news, there are parts of the recommendations that get forest protection right. We are happy to see a recommendation for the creation of a fund for forest protection under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The plan itself only provides a fraction of the money needed for the fund to succeed, so now the Commission needs to figure out how to make sure the fund can succeed.

The Commission also rightly opposes forest offset credits for the next decade. If forest credits were approved, they could allow the energy sector to buy its way out of necessary reforms and emission cuts. The EU Commission is taking a step in the right direction by rejecting forest credits in the carbon markets.

What’s next?

European environment ministers are expected to discuss deforestation at their Council on 4 December and the first ministerial debate on the timber legislative proposal is expected to take place at the agriculture Council on 17-19 December.

If the last ancient forests and all the life that’s in them don’t get a little love from the Environmental Ministers they will soon be wiped out. If the EU is serious about protecting forests and keeping temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius, then Parliament and Council need to step it up on the Commission proposals. We need a strong timber law and new economic incentives and financial resources to put an end to deforestation and illegal logging.

Probe studies Solar System's edge

2008-10-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Nasa's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (Ibex) spacecraft has been launched into Earth orbit to study the edge of our Solar System.

Ibex was launched on Sunday aboard a Pegasus rocket that was dropped from a jet flying over the Pacific Ocean.

It is the first probe to study particle interactions at the boundary where our Solar System meets interstellar space.

The Ibex probe will chart particle interactions at the edge of deep space

The two-year mission should shed light on the decline of the solar wind, which is at its lowest pressure in 50 years.

The interstellar boundary is the point in space at which the particles emitted from the Sun begin to compete with those from elsewhere in the galaxy.

This region serves as a buffer that protects the Solar System's interior from 90% of the cosmic rays heading towards it.

EU 'holds firm' on climate goals

2008-10-16T12:40:00.000-07:00

EU leaders will maintain their targets and timetable for tackling climate change, despite objections from some nations, the French president has said.

At a summit in Brussels, Nicolas Sarkozy said "solutions" would be found for those that had expressed concerns.

Some countries have threatened to block a deal agreed last year for EU-wide cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, citing the economic slowdown.

The split over climate change contrasts with EU unity over the banking crisis.

The financial crisis has prompted some countries such as Poland and Italy to argue that they cannot afford to enforce tough emissions targets on their industrial sector.

Mr Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said: "The climate package is so important that we cannot simply drop it, under the pretext of a financial crisis."

Speaking at the close of the meeting, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said "we are not going to let up on the battle against climate change."

Last year, EU leaders vowed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, compared to 1990 levels, and to derive 20% of energy from renewable sources.

However, the BBC's Oana Lungescu, in Brussels, says a finalised agreement by December looks like a tall order, amid darkening prospects for Europe's economy.

Concerns

Europe has moved fast to tackle the financial crisis but it is only starting to count the cost for jobs and economic growth, our correspondent says.

The French president said EU nations should consider a co-ordinated rescue plan to tackle the broader economic crisis as with the financial crisis.

All 27 EU states broadly support a bank rescue plan proposed for the bloc and the holding of a summit on world financial reform, Mr Sarkozy said.

Eurozone leaders have agreed on a comprehensive package designed to shore up banks, including making more than a 1,000bn euros ($1,366bn) available for interbank loans.

Mr Sarkozy said the EU wanted to launch "a new Bretton Woods summit" in November, referring to the 1944 meeting which led to the creation of the International Monetary Fund and other global institutions.

Other members of the group of eight industrialised nations (G8) have also signed up to the summit.

With a recession looming, some Eastern and central European countries are unhappy at the burden of cuts they will be expected to bear under the existing climate agreement.

They argue that a legacy of inefficient and coal-dependent industry, dating from the Soviet era, has made it much harder for them to achieve big emissions cuts.

Solutions

Mr Sarkozy said he was pushing hard for an agreement on climate change and energy action by the end of the year.

"On the climate package, we have obtained unanimity... It is now for President Barroso and myself to find solutions for those countries which have expressed concerns," Mr Sarkozy said.

In other summit business, talks on a new EU-Russia partnership treaty were postponed, amid continuing concern about Russia's military presence in Georgia. There were divisions about when to resume them.

A decision to revive the failed Lisbon treaty, meant to give the EU more stable institutions in difficult times, is expected to be put on the back-burner until December.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen promised to come up with an action plan by then on the best way to move ahead next year.

Earliest confirmed TB case found

2008-10-14T22:32:00.000-07:00

The 9,000-year-old remains of a mother and her baby discovered off the coast of Israel provide the earliest concrete evidence of human TB, say researchers.

The bones were excavated from Alit-Yam, an ancient Neolithic village near Haifa, which has been submerged in the Mediterranean for thousands of years.

Experts suspect the mother passed the disease to her baby shortly after birth

The experts from University College London and Tel-Aviv University used DNA technology to confirm the bacterium.

Others have found remains that hint at TB dating from about 500,000 years ago.

However, there is no firm proof that the tell tale signs seen in the skeleton of a young man believed to belong to the first human species to migrate out of Africa - Homo erectus - were in fact caused by TB. Some experts doubt it.

Watery grave

The Israel bones, discovered by Dr Helen Donoghue and Dr Mark Spigelman, prove the disease is at least 3,000 years older than previously confirmed in other remains found in Italy. The watery grave provided the ideal environment to preserve the skeleton and its DNA.

The Atlit-Yam site was located within marshland, the graves were encased in clay, eventually covered by thick layer of sand and later by salt water, protecting the bones from decay.

The size of the infant's bones, and the extent of TB damage, suggest the mother passed the disease to her baby shortly after birth.

They lived around the time of the first great transition of man from hunter-gatherers to a settled agriculture-based lifestyle.

One theory is that TB originally spread from cattle to humans.

But these latest findings, published in PLoS One journal, suggest human TB predates bovine TB.

Dr Donoghue said: "What is fascinating is that the infecting organism is definitely the human strain of tuberculosis, in contrast to the original theory that human TB evolved from bovine TB after animal domestication.

"This gives us the best evidence yet that in a community with domesticated animals but before dairying, the infecting strain was actually the human pathogen.

The remains were submerged in the Mediterranean sea

"The presence of large numbers of animal bones shows that animals were an important food source, and this probably led to an increase in the human population that helped the TB to be maintained and spread."

The scientists were also able to show that the DNA of the strain of TB in the skeletons had lost a particular piece of DNA which is characteristic of a common family of strains present in the world today.

"The fact that this deletion had occurred 9,000 years ago gives us a much better idea of the rate of change of the bacterium over time, and indicates an extremely long association with humans," said Dr Donoghue.

Dr Simon Mays, skeletal biologist at English Heritage's Centre for Archaeology, said: "This does predate the other earliest convincing cases of TB from Italy by about 6,000 years.

"It tells us that the human form of TB is quite ancient."

Ultimately, Dr Donoghue's team hope their work will help others find more effective treatments for TB.

About nine million new cases of TB, and nearly two million deaths from TB, are estimated to occur around the world every year.

WWF collaborates with Pemda Nunukan to preserve the elephants of East Kalimantan

2008-09-25T15:42:00.000-07:00

It has been known for a long time that elephants occur in the eastern and southern part of Sabah, on the island of Borneo. However, until recently few people knew that there is also a elephant population living in the very north of East Kalimantan. These elephants are confined to the northern part of the district of Nunukan, and historical records indicate that this area is part of their original natural habitat. The indigenous people of the area have always been familiar with these animals that they respectfully refer to as nenek (grandparents).

The elephants of Borneo were always thought to have been introduced to Sabah some 200 years ago. However, recent DNA studies have proven that the elephants of Borneo are in fact an indigenous sub-species, called Elephas maximus borneensis, which split from the other sub-species some 300,000 years ago.

Picture of an elephant from Sebuku area was documented from a survey last year

The elephant herds of Nunukan district moves through a wide area of the upper Sebuku sub-district, from the upper Agison drainage area in the west to the foot slopes of the Mayo hills in the east. They frequently cross the border to move through adjacent areas in Sabah.
The upper Sebuku area is still covered by natural forests, but most forests have been logged or are being logged.

Solitary male elephants occasionally wander much further to the south, all the way to the Tikung River. This is nowadays happening much more often than before, and the number of elephants coming to the south is also larger. It is particularly in this southern area where many new developments are taking place. Large areas have been allocated for oil palm plantations, and many villages have their agricultural fields in this area.
Many conflicts between elephants and human have occurred in the last few years, as elephants enter oil palm plantations, people’s fields and even villages. This has resulted in destruction of crops and infrastructure, which has angered the local people.
WWF in collaboration with the Government of Nunukan, Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) of East Kalimantan have documented the recent visits of disturbing elephants into the area, and it has received much media attention during the last two years.

Joint Efforts with the BKSDA and local government

BKSDA Kaltim and WWF want to avoid more conflicts with the elephants, and have therefore facilitated Pemda Nunukan with the establishment of the Elephant Conflict Forum, during a five days workshop in the village of Sekikilan last September. Surveys of the elephant area and analysis of the field data were carried out by WWF and BKSDA Kaltim to obtain more ecological information of the elephants here, which includes a distribution map of the elephant herds and the solitary males.

WWF will now further collaborate with Pemda Nunukan and BKSDA to ensure that the development of the area can coincide with the conservation of the elephants of Sebuku.

Pemda Nunukan is currently in the process of developing a new spatial land use plan (rencana tata ruang kabupaten) and WWF will advise about the elephant habitats and corridors that need to be incorporated in the spatial planning to avoid elephant-human conflicts. These advices will be supported by more ecological data, obtained through additional research and surveys.
The Elephant Conflict Forum of Sebuku will be strengthened and further organized. WWF will donate through Pemda Nunukan the equipment that is needed to anticipate elephant intrusions in fields and plantations, such as communication radios, flashlights and noise cannons. Pemda Nunukan will allocate additional funds to make the Forum fully operational.

Capacity building of the local stakeholders will be further developed by Pemda Nunukan and BKSDA with assistance from WWF. This includes training and learning visits to the elephant project in neighboring Sabah, which will also strengthen trans-boundary collaboration.

The strong commitment of Pemda Nunukan is very encouraging and can through the partnership with WWF, BKSDA and local stakeholders result in the preservation of the unique elephant population of Nunukan, the only elephants in Indonesian Borneo.

Guidelines for Better Management Practices on Avoidance, Mitigation and Management of Human-Orangutan Conflict in and around Oil Palm Plantations

2008-09-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

In 2006, Indonesia and Malaysia accounted for 83% and 89% of global exports of palm oil respectively, with export trends expected to double by the year 2020. This has led to the expansion of oil palm. While oil palm production is a major source of income for Indonesia, and some oil palm plantations are well managed, others have imposed social and environmental costs. It is recognized that there are environmental pressures on oil palm expansion to areas having high conservation values, including orangutan habitat, causing a significant decline in orangutan populations, particularly as palm oil can only be cultivated in tropical countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

It has been demonstrated that oil palm plantations can only support 0 to 20% of the mammals, reptiles and birds that the land supported prior to conversion. Where natural ecosystems have been converted to other land uses, conflicts arise between humans and wildlife, resulting in wildlife being killed, and poached for trade. This includes orangutans, the only great ape found in Asia. Today, orangutans are threatened by extinction in the wild.

Orangutans and many other species are being captured, and often end up injured, starving, or dead. Unplanned forest conversion is exacerbating this situation, completely disregarding the importance of biodiversity as genetic resource for human welfare.

A key issue that needs to be addressed is preventing the increase of conflicts between orangutans and humans. To this end, several conservation organizations and academic institutions have formed a communication forum to develop orangutan rescue guidelines for use by oil palm companies. These technical guidelines were compiled as guiding principles for Better Management Practices (BMP) of human-orangutan conflict management, including the protection of HCVF (High Conservation Value Forests) areas within oil palm plantations. This document aims to help industrial stakeholders identify the right steps to adopt BMP, which is of clear benefit for both conservation and industrial activities.

The authors would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their contribution to the development of this guide: Marc Ancrenaz, Fitrian Ardiansyah, Monica Borner, Doris Calegari, Stuart Chapman, Marc Dunais, Garreth Goldthorpe, Lone Droscher Nielsen, Amalia Prameswari, Aldrianto Priadjati, Bella Roscher, Anne Russon, Ian Singleton, Jatna Supriatna; Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, Conservation International-Indonesia Program, Orangutan Conservancy, Fauna & Flora International Indonesia Program, Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program, Wildlife Conservation Society-Indonesia Program, World Wide Fund for Nature-Indonesia, WWF-Malaysia, WWF-Switzerland; Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Nasional, The Hacin Family Foundation.

Nokia tops latest Greener Electronics Guide

2008-09-25T15:31:00.000-07:00

Company scores plummeted in the previous edition of Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics, when new criteria on climate change were introduced. However, leading brands like Nokia and Samsung are now making significant progress in greening their electronics products, with improved environmental policies responding not only to these new energy criteria, but also to the more stringent chemical and e-waste criteria.

Boys burning electronic cables and other electrical components in order to melt off the plastic and reclaim the copper wiring. This burning in small fires releases toxic chemicals into the environment.

The Greener Electronics Guide is our way of getting the electronics industry to take responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products. We want them to face up to the problem of e-waste and take on the challenge of tackling climate change.

First launched in August 2006 and now in its 9th edition, the Guide ranks the leaders of the mobile phone, computer, TV and games console markets according to their policies and practices on toxic chemicals, recycling and energy.

The Guide has been a key driving force in getting many companies to make significant improvements to their environmental policies, and it continues to provoke significant change in the industry. Intel recently announced that its new Xeon 5400 processors use transistors made from hafnium, thus avoiding the use of toxic Brominated Flame Retardants (BFRs). Last week, we also saw the announcement by Apple that its new line of iPods would be free of BFRs, PVC and mercury.

Who's in the lead, and who's in need?

Scoring seven points out of ten, Nokia has regained the lead, due largely to its improved take-back practice in India. Samsung, a top scorer on the energy-efficiency of its products, takes second place with 5.9 points. Fujitsu Siemens Computers jumps to third place with 5.5 points, having finally set late 2010 as its deadline for eliminating toxic PVC plastic and all BFRs from across its product range. Although Sony Ericsson and Sony - who enjoyed the top two positions in the previous edition - rank fourth and fifth respectively this time around, they remain in the top half of the ranking with scores of 5.3 each.

Languishing at the bottom of the ranking is Sharp with 3.1, Microsoft with 2.2 points and Nintendo, with only 0.8.

Greener Electronics: Toxic-free

We want manufacturers to eliminate harmful chemicals in their product design. While no company has, so far, released a computer completely free of BFRs and PVC, several have recently launched products with restricted amounts of toxic BFRs and PVC. Sony Ericsson stands out, having banned hazardous chemicals such as antimony, beryllium and phthalates since the beginning of the year. All of its new models are PVC-free. Following the lead set by companies like Sony Ericsson, and Nokia, Apple has also announced that its new line of iPods will be free of BFRs, PVC and mercury.

This is a first step towards Apple putting its money where its mouth is: Apple committed to a complete phase-out of PVC and BFRs from all of its products by the end of 2008. With the new iPods being the cheapest models yet, this is clear proof that high-performing electronics products can be affordable, popular and effective without using toxic chemicals. A downside to Apple's new iPod is its built-in obsolescence; because of the high costs to replace the battery, new product purchase is encouraged.

Apple has positioned itself among the leaders on PVC and BFR phase-out, but the iPod alone is not enough to increase its overall score. A complete phase out of all toxic chemicals across its entire product range would improve Apple's ranking, and the company needs to improve its record on recycling and climate policy. We're urging Apple to introduce a free, global recycling scheme like rivals such as Dell.

Greener Electronics: Energy-efficient

Since the 8th edition of the Guide criteria to assess the companies' performance in tackling climate change have been introduced. The global Information and Communication Technology industry is estimated to be responsible for approximately 2 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and the rapid proliferation of energy-hungry electronic gadgets is part of this. It's vital that the electronics industry plays a leading role in producing more energy-efficient products. Aside from assessing the efficiency of their products, we also score companies according to how much renewable energy they use and the level of their commitment to significantly reducing emissions.

Top scorers on energy-efficiency of individual products are Apple, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung, with Toshiba providing a further example of a company that is improving its climate policy.

Greener Electronics: Responsibly recycled

We want to see an end to the stories of unprotected child labourers scavenging mountains of cast-off gadgets created by society's gizmo-loving ways. The latest place where we have discovered high-tech toxic trash causing horrendous pollution is in Ghana. Our recent investigation into e-waste dumping in Ghana revealed major companies' products being torn apart in almost mediaeval conditions, exposing people to alarming levels of toxic contamination.

Philips stands out as the company with the worst position on e-waste and recycling. It ranks 12th with 4.3 points, retaining its penalty point for negative lobbying on Individual Producer Responsibility in the EU. Put simply, this means that companies like Philips believe that the costs for responsible recycling of their obsolete and end-of-life products should be met by governments and consumers (and that means you!).

Philips has a bad history of holding this negative stance on recycling. Together with Sharp and Sanyo, Philips was a member of the Electronic Manufacturers' Coalition for Responsible Recycling, a coalition of TV producers in the US that lobbied against producer responsibility for financing e-waste recycling and instead putting this responsibility - and expense - on governments and the buyers of its products (that means you!). Many companies left this coalition after being either penalised or threatened with a penalty in earlier editions of our Greener Electronics Guide, and the coalition was finally dissolved in August.

Switching to Green Electronics

With more companies now scoring higher than 5 out of 10 - the halfway mark in the ranking - a company that rises to the challenge of phasing out toxic chemicals, increasing the recycling rate of e-waste, using recycled materials in new products and reducing its impact on climate change could soon find itself winning the race to produce the world's first truly green electronics.

Victory! European Parliament votes to reduce emissions from gas guzzlers

2008-09-25T15:30:00.000-07:00

International — In a long-awaited display of responsibility, the European Parliament’s Environment committee has voted through a strong package to reduce emissions from cars. As the committee went into session, it seemed certain that a compromise package riddled with loopholes would be the one to pass. However, the MEPs voted to stick with meaningful legislation, turning their backs on nine months of lobbying by the car industry.

Activists from Greenpeace Spain climbed the Osborne Bull, an internationally known symbol of Spanish roads, to "protect" him from increasing CO2 emissions from cars.

Under the new deal, average fleet emissions from new cars, which are currently around 158 grams

Must be reduced to 130 grams/km by 2012
Must fall further to 95 grams by 2020
For every gram over the average a manufacturer will face fines of 95 euro per car

The proposal still has to pass the full EU Parliament and the Council of Ministers. But this is now increasingly likely to happen, and we’ll be defending this package every inch of the way.
The ruling comes as a huge blow to the car industry lobby, which has shamelessly defended its right to drive climate change by putting profits ahead of the climate. The lobby, led by Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW will now have to embrace a low carbon future.

Victory! Turkish nuclear plans powered down

2008-09-25T15:29:00.000-07:00

Turkey — Just two days after the arrest of 37 activists from Greenpeace and Global Action Group protesting against nuclear energy in Turkey, there has been a victory. For months, the Energy Ministry of Turkey has been intent on selecting a supplier for its first nuclear energy plant. The plant would have been the first of a number the Turkish government says it wants to build. Instead, plans have been stopped dead in their tracks. It turns out energy companies just aren’t that interested in the risk of a new nuclear energy plant.

Nuclear power presents unacceptable risks to life on this planet: its small contribution to power is far outweighed by its inherent dangers.

And the envelope please…

Yesterday, the government received envelopes from 6 companies supposedly interested in building the new plant. Only one envelope actually held a bid for a new nuclear plant – the other five contained a “thanks but no thanks” letter. Russian company Atomstroyexport was the only one willing to roll the dice on nuclear energy in Turkey. But, Turkish rules say that without competition for the bid the government is unable to move ahead and issue the tender for a new nuclear plant.

Turkey might have been considering nuclear energy as a quick and cheap fix to its energy needs but nuclear energy is anything but quick or cheap. In addition to being extremely dangerous and dirty, nuclear energy is an economic disaster. Because of increasing costs and construction time, companies just don’t want to invest.

The time has come for an Energy [R]evolution. Let’s not fall back on power from the past. We’ve come up with a plan to move from a world powered by nuclear and fossil fuels to one running on renewable energy.

Will the real dinosaurs stand up?

2008-09-17T16:39:00.004-07:00

Most of the newly discovered dinosaurs are just that - new to science, an assessment concludes.

With many past fossil finds named on the basis of partial remains, there has been concern that a lot of double counting has been taking place.

Recent studies had even suggested this error rate might be as high as 50% - with some species being catalogued with several aliases.

This plant-eating Jurassic dinosaur was named Yinlong downsi by Xu Xing and colleagues in 2006. Xu Xing is the most prolific namer of new dinosaurs: this is his 25th new species. This type specimen is essentially complete, typical of the good practice of most workers today.

But the journal Biology Letters reports that modern practice is now very good.

"My research suggests we're getting better at naming things; we're being more critical; we're using better material," said Professor Michael Benton from Bristol University, UK.

The scientist looked at the original descriptions of all 1,047 species of dinosaurs ever named, from 1824 to the present day.

He assessed the quality of the specimens on which the names were founded - the type specimens. Professor Benton said some 500 were genuinely distinct, and the confidence surrounding the latest discoveries - about one new species a fortnight - was now very high.

"The bane of the dinosaurologist's life is species that have been named on the basis of incomplete specimens," Professor Benton explained.

"In Victorian times, palaeontologists were keen to name new species, and in the excitement of the great 'bone wars' for example, from 1870 to 1890, they rushed into print with new names for every odd leg bone, tooth, or skull cap that came their way.

"Later work, on more complete specimens, reduced more than 1,000 named dinosaurs to 500 or so."

Professor Benton said science had now put in place far more rigorous naming protocols, dramatically reducing the "alias problem".

Since 1960, the great majority of new species are founded on more or less complete specimens, sometimes even whole skeletons.

Professor Benton has a critical interest in the topic because he studies the evolution of dinosaurs. He tries to understand how this famous animal group changed and diversified over almost 200 million years.

"There's no point somebody such as myself doing big statistical analyses of numbers of dinosaur species through time - or indeed any other fossil group - if you can't be confident that they really are genuinely different," he told BBC News.

"This is important also for studies of modern biodiversity. People have also been looking at our current knowledge of mammals and insects and other animal groups and asking the simple question: are the species totals and lists we use for important conclusions - including to give political advice about endangered species - are they correct?

"There's been a big debate about vast extinctions among amphibians. We have to know what the species are first, before we can talk about that."

EU to overhaul fisheries policy

2008-09-17T16:39:00.003-07:00

The European Commission has announced a full review of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy, saying the current regime fails to protect fish stocks.

The commission says that fishermen who obey the fishing rules are being penalised by the irresponsible behaviour of others who flout them.

That "vicious circle" has undermined the ecological balance of the oceans, the commission says.

The EU wants to cut the size of fleets and the time fishermen spend at sea.

Sustainable fishing is more important than profit, the commission says

Overfishing threat

The commission says there are still too many vessels chasing too few fish, and that ecological sustainability must take precedence over economic or social factors.

In other words, just because a community has traditionally depended on fishing does not mean it can continue to do so.

The Common Fisheries Policy was established in 1983 and last reformed in 2002.

It sets quotas for catches and is aimed at curbing harmful practices such as "discards" - when trawlers throw organisms back into the sea.

'50 years left' for sea fish

Overfishing is the main threat to the future of fish stocks, and the current policy rewards narrow-minded and short-term decision-making, the commission says.

In 2003, 29% of open sea fisheries were assessed as being in a state of collapse, defined as a decline to less than 10% of their original yield.

Fishermen are using ever more powerful boats, cleverer technology and bigger nets; but even so the global catch of fish is falling because there are fewer of them. Between 1994 and 2003 it declined by 13%.

Many species in EU waters are at risk of extinction, according to scientists.

The EU is the world's second largest fishing power after China.

While more than two million tons of fish products were exported in 2006, more than six million tons had to be imported to meet EU needs.

Coal shipment stopped in Turkey

2008-09-17T16:39:00.002-07:00

Iskenderun, Turkey — Four climbers from our ship the Rainbow Warrior were arrested yesterday, in Turkey, after they occupied a giant coal loading platform to prevent a delivery of coal to the giant Sugozo coal-fired power station, one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases in the world. After 11 hours blocking coal coming off the “Global Winner” (“Global Warmer” more like), a South African cargo ship, they were forced down by police using high-pressure water hoses. The four climbers and their support team have now been released and are facing the prospect of heavy fines for their actions.

Activists board one of the world's largest coal platforms at Botas Oil Terminal, stopping barges from importing coal to the Sugozu (Isken) coal fired power plant.

The Sugozu coal power plant emits some 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year (three times as much as Iceland), which makes it the fourth largest single emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, in terms of power plants.

The action was designed to send a message to the Turkish state authority EMRA (Energy Market Regulatory Authority) - which is responsible for licensing coal power plants. Launching Greenpeace Turkey’s “Quit Coal” campaign, the action is just the beginning of our work to stop the construction of 40 new coal fired power plants currently planned in Turkey. Insanely, almost all of them will rely on imported coal in a country where wind and solar alone could easily exceed current electricity demand.

Turkey is already an international disgrace when it comes to increasing greenhouse gas emissions, and has failed to even ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

Hilal Atici, our Greenpeace Mediterranean Coal Campaigner says “The Isken action is just the beginning – we will not stop until our government wakes up and quits coal.”

The Greenpeace Mediterranean Executive Director has requested a meeting with EMRA this week to press our case. He will be outside their head offices in Ankara ensuring that they listen to our very simple demand “No new coal in Turkey - Embrace an energy revolution.” The ship is now en-route to Istanbul.

Turkey is the second country on Greenpeace’s European “Quit Coal” ship tour – we are taking the message directly to governments in the run-up to crucial UN climate negotiations in Poznan, Poland this December. Greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for post 2012 need to be set and the final agreement on these will be made in Copenhagen in 2009. The period leading up to this is really "make of break" for the climate. The message is pretty clear – in order to have any meaningful deal to save the climate, the world has to quit coal - the worst polluter of all fossil fuels.

Rainbow Warrior raises a reaction for the climate in Israel

2008-09-17T16:39:00.001-07:00

Ashkelon, Israel — The Israeli police, supported by the navy, arrested the captain of the Rainbow Warrior - together with 14 Greenpeace activists, the photographer and the videographer - for passing on the message to “Quit Coal”. Activists had been painting the message, in English and Hebrew, on a ship importing coal to the Ashkelon power plant in Israel. Police boarded the Rainbow Warrior before we had even started the painting.

Israeli Marine forces board the SV Rainbow Warrior at the military restricted area near the coal plant in Ashkelon, Israel. 14 Greenpeace activists were later arrested and taken into custody after protesting against the Rotenberg coal power plant construction.

Our Captain, Daniel Rizotti, was arrested by Israeli police. The officers, arriving on a military ship and carrying machine guns, came on board and demanded that he sail back to Ashdod, the port we had left that morning. So, still waiting for the release of our activists, we sailed back.

The protest marked the launch of our “Quit Coal: Save the Climate” tour through the Mediterranean and Europe. Israel is only the beginning of our journey; we’re visiting 11 countries en route to Poland, where crucial UN climate negotiations continue this December.

Why “Quit Coal”?

Because, when it comes to climate change, coal is by far the worst offender. Yet governments seem to be missing the message, approving plans for hundreds of new coal-fired plants. If they don’t wake up to the urgent need to stop this, then by 2030 carbon emissions coming from coal will have increased by some 60 percent. We’re here to sound the alarm.

Our action in Israel was a wake-up call to the government to abandon its plans for a new coal plant in Ashkelon. Despite thousands of Israelis voicing their opposition to this unnecessary and dirty plant, the government has approved plans anyway. But it’s not too late! Greenpeace is urging all Israelis - whether at home or abroad - to lodge a complaint.

Sunny Solution

Israel is very, very sunny. So it’s pretty crazy that Israel is not embracing this solar potential and instead continues to rely on imported coal (not to mention the CO2 emissions of shipping the coal to Israel from Colombia, Indonesia and Australia). Israel is getting some things right – it has built the world’s first solar thermal plant, and it’s selling that technology worldwide. Something to celebrate indeed. But more is needed for Israel to be guaranteed a brighter future.

The world must quit its addiction to coal; luckily we have the cure. Greenpeace's Energy [R]evolution scenario shows how renewable energy, combined with greater energy efficiency, can cut global CO2 emissions by 50%, and deliver half the world's energy needs by 2050.

Happily, we now have our captain, activists, media team, inflatables and cameras back on board. We’ve been deported from Israel, but now we’re heading for Turkey – and the next stage of our “Quit Coal” tour.

Greenpeace activists in the dock: Experts take ‘the stand’ on climate change

2008-09-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

Maidstone Crown Court, United Kingdom — As expert witnesses go, they don’t come any better than Professor James Hansen, one of the world’s leading climate scientists and Director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. On Wednesday, he was called to give evidence before a UK Court on the threat posed by Kingsnorth coal-fired power station to the world’s climate.

Six Greenpeace activists are being charged with criminal damage after they took action last October, to highlight the threat posed by Kingsnorth.

Hansen’s evidence will be crucial in establishing their defence, since while the defendants accept the damage they caused, they say they did so to prevent much greater damage to other property and the planet.

Lawful damage

The trial is in its fifth day. The six Greenpeace activists are on trial for scaling a smokestack at Kingsnorth power station in October last year. They have been charged with causing £30,000 worth of criminal damage for painting "GORDON" down the chimney. They planned to paint “GORDON – BIN IT”, but they weren’t able to because of poor light.

The defendants accept that they caused the damage, but are arguing that is was lawful for them to damage the chimney in order to protect other property in Kent (where Kingsnorth is located), and around the world, said to be at the risk of much more serious damage from climate change caused to a large degree by coal-fired power stations.

Yesterday, Hansen was called to the stand to give evidence. Hansen has an impressive CV, having spent the last 20 years studying the Earth’s climate. As well as numerous accolades for his work, he has given evidence to the US Congress and Senate several times and warned a succession of US Vice-Presidents, including Al Gore, about the impacts of climate change.

James Hansen in conversation outside Maidstone Crown Court

Kingsnorth kills

He told the 12 jurors at Maidstone Crown Court in Kent that emissions from the Kingsnorth power station led to damage to property worldwide, as well as the extinction of species and the creation of climate change refugees. During his testimony, Hansen warned that, if the world continues with business-as-usual, our descendants will be “left with a much more desolate planet and much less biodiversity”. He said that even a two degree rise in temperature is “a recipe for global disaster” and that the last time the Earth was more than two degrees warmer than it is now, there was a 25-metre sea level rise. He pointed out that the UK bears the most responsibility for historical CO2 emissions in the atmosphere per person (followed by the US and then Germany) and that, if the UK carries on with business as usual, it could cause the extinction of nearly one million species; several hundred of these species extinctions could be associated directly with Kingsnorth power station.

It's not too late

During Live Earth, last year, he was invited to go on stage with Al Gore. He took his grandchildren along. "How many species do we need to save?", he asked them. "All of them," said his grand-daughter. "Me too," said his grandson.

"We can't save all of them," Hansen told the Court, "but we can still save most." But, although "there's just barely still time" we need an immediate moratorium on the construction of all new coal-fired power plants (without CCS) and the phasing out of existing coal plants. And somebody - whether it's the UK, US or Germany - needs "to stand up".

"Gordon Brown," he said, "should announce a moratorium on all new coal plants without carbon capture and storage." Speaking to the Jury, he also agreed with a statement made by former US Vice President and Nobel Peace Laureate, Al Gore: "I can't understand why there aren’t rings of young people blocking bulldozers and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power stations".

Just before Hansen’s evidence, another defence expert witness, Dr Geoffrey Meaden (via video link from Brazil), confirmed that the examples of climate change impacts being cited by the defendants are 'true circumstances'. "It is overwhelmingly perceived," he said, "by the defendants, the scientific community and myself" that we are changing our climate. "There's an increasing urgency," he said, "for all citizens and governments to take action." 

"Within five years," said Dr Meaden, "there could be no summer ice left in the Arctic...Ironically, the Kingsnorth area itself will be extremely vulnerable to flooding due to climate change. The situation is so urgent that unless we act immediately to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, by the next century we may have to abandon up to 20 percent of Kent to the sea... It behoves us to act with urgency."

Taking a stand

One of our activists, Emily, also took the stand, and introduced herself and how she'd come to be involved with Greenpeace. Emily explained that whatever emissions are in the atmosphere now will have impacts for years to come. When asked why she climbed the chimney, she said, "I felt very strongly that I wanted to do that." And, when the pictures of her hanging off the top of Kingsnorth's smokestack were handed out, at least a couple of jurors gasped.

Another activist, Kevin, was next and introduced himself as a rope access worker from Wiltshire who had become concerned about climate change back in the '80s. Kevin's questions focused mostly on the safety aspects of the direct action. Much of the evidence presented by the expert witnesses was of a highly complicated technical nature and the 12 jurors really have a tough job to take it all in. But, in the end, burning fossil fuels causes climate change that is wreaking massive damage to the environment, the economy and human health. It is not too late to bring climate change under control and avoid the worst impacts.

Lavender-flavoured food dished up

2008-09-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

Culinary connoisseurs at a lavender festival have been encouraged to use the herb in their cooking.

Lavender farmer William Alexander said the herb, which comes from the mint family, could be used with everything from crème brulee to meat and fish.

Chefs prepared an entire lunch menu with lavender in each dish

A two-day festival at his farm in Kent, had lavender-flavoured cheesecake, ice cream, chocolate and cordial available for visitors to try.

"It's an incredibly versatile herb," the Sevenoaks farmer said.

Castle Farm now has 50 acres of lavender in flower, which is being cut by hand for drying.

The herb has been used for medicinal purposes since the middle ages, and has been used for soap and perfume since Victorian times.

Mr Alexander said: "It's used in aromatherapy and perfumes, and what we are celebrating is using it as an essence in cookery and foods."

It's therapeutic, you get a good night's sleep ... it's just enjoyable

Raj Kang

His wife, Caroline, said this year was the first time the farm had produced lavender essence to be used as a cooking ingredient.

She said the farm had cooked an entire lunch menu using the ingredient to show how it could be used, which included main courses of chicken with lemon and lavender sauce, and beef cooked on a bed of lavender.

And she said another favourite recipe used "tart fruits like a gooseberry or a rhubarb with just a few drops of lavender essence".

Chef Victor Hugo, who sampled the new flavour, said: "It's delicious, quite subtle, but really delicious. I'm just waiting for the dessert."

Lavender picker Raj Kang said she was enjoying her holiday job picking the herb.

"It's therapeutic, you get a good night's sleep ... it's just enjoyable," she said.

Events during the festival on Saturday and Sunday included guided tours of the lavender fields, aromatherapy demonstrations, tastings and bee-keeping displays.

Oils 'make male breasts develop'

2008-09-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

Using lavender and tea tree oil products can cause young boys to develop breast tissue, a study finds.

Gynaecomastia is rare, and there is often no obvious cause.

But US specialists report in the New England Journal of Medicine that three boys developed the condition after using the oils.

Products containing lavender oil were cited in all three cases

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) team say doctors who see boys should ask about their use of such products.

Oils 'mimicked hormones'

Clifford Bloch, a child hormone specialist at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Science Center's School of Medicine started to suspect the link after seeing the three boys.

The first, aged four, had been experiencing symptoms for two to three weeks.

His mother said she had recently begun applying a "healing balm" containing lavender oil to his skin.

The second boy, who was 10, had been developing enlarged breast tissue over the previous five months.

When questioned, it emerged that he was using a shampoo and hair gel containing lavender oil and tea tree oil every morning.

The third boy, aged seven, had a one-month history of gynaecomastia.

He had been using lavender-scented soaps and skin lotions. His twin used the soap, but not the lotions, and had not developed the condition.

Each of the boys stopped using the relevant products, and several months later the tissue growth was found to have subsided.

The team at the NIEHS carried out tests on human cells and found pure lavender and tea tree oils could mimic the actions of female hormones and inhibit the effects of male hormones, and therefore disrupt the endocrine system in the body.

'Reconsider' product use

Dr Bloch said: "Since there was no identifiable cause for prepubertal gynaecomastia in the three patients we reported, we speculated that environmental factors might be contributing to their condition.

"Together, the case histories and NIEHS studies provide support for our hypothesis that topical exposure to lavender and tea tree oils likely caused gynaecomastia in the three patients."

It is not known whether the oils could have similar effects on the endocrine systems of young girls, teenagers or adults.

But Dr Derek Hanley, who led the NIEHS research said the oils did not appear to alter the levels of the usual forms of hormones circulating in the boys' bodies.

And he said: "We do not anticipate any long term effects on hormonal levels."

Dr Ken Korach, who also worked on the study, said: "We want to encourage doctors who may be seeing patients with gynaecomastia to ask their patients about the products they are using.

"Patients with prepubertal gynaecomastia may want to consider reducing the use of products that contain these oils."

Professor Ieuan Hughes, a child hormone specialist at the University of Cambridge, said: "The scientists have shown a convincing effect, albeit on cell lines; that these oils can mimic oestrogens and act as anti-androgens [male hormones]."

He said: "We don't really understand gynaecomastia, but the consensus is that it's related to a hormone imbalance."

Professor Hughes said hormone levels in prepubescent boys were particularly sensitive to changes.

He added: "The next step is to see how widespread this problem is.

"As the researchers say, it is important to say people should be a little bit careful about using these products until we know more."

Lavender 'calms dental patients'

2008-09-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

It soothes headaches and aids sleep - now lavender has been shown to help cope with a trip to the dentist.

A study of 340 people by King's College London researchers found those exposed to lavender oil scent were less anxious about the treatment ahead.

But the British Psychological Society conference heard lavender had no effect on their nerves about future treatment.

Dentists said techniques such as hypnotherapy, rather than oils, were common ways of helping calm patients.

All the patients studied were waiting for a scheduled dental appointment.

Half were exposed to the scent given off by a candle warmer activating five drops of lavender oil in water during regular clinics over a four-week period, while the rest were not.

The anxiety level of those not exposed to lavender was 10.7 compared with 7.4 among those smelling the scent.

'On-the-spot' treatment

Metaxia Kritsidima, who led the study, said: "A substantial number of people avoid going to dental surgeries because they are scared of the dentist, which can have a significant impact on their dental health.

"The anxiety experienced by these patients once they get to the dentist is stressful not only for them, but also for the dental team.

"Working under a state of increased tension may potentially compromise their performance, as well as lengthening appointment times.

"This is why finding a way of reducing dental anxiety is really important."

Lavender is known for its calming properties

Dr Koula Asimakopoulou, who also worked on the study, added: "This is a significant difference and it was present regardless of the type of dental appointment."

And she added: "Our findings suggest that lavender could certainly be used as an effective "on-the-spot" anxiety reduction in dentists' waiting rooms."

A spokeswoman for the British Dental Association said: "Dentists use a range of techniques to help patients feel calm; some specialise in hypnotherapy or counselling - but I haven't heard of anyone using lavender oil."

Varanus komodoensis is Indonesian Original Species

2008-09-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

Komodo National Park is located in the center of the Indonesian archipelago, between the islands of Sumbawa and Flores. Established in 1980, initially the main purpose of the Park was to conserve the unique Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) and its habitat. However, over the years, the goals for the Park have expanded to protecting its entire biodiversity, both terrestrial and marine. In 1986, the Park was declared a World Heritage Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, both indications of the Park's biological importance.

Komodo National Park includes three major islands: Komodo, Rinca and Padar, as well as numerous smaller islands creating a total surface area (marine and land) of 1817km (proposed extensions would bring the total surface area up to 2,321km²). As well as being home to the Komodo dragon, the Park provides refuge for many other notable terrestrial species such as the orange-footed scrub fowl, an endemic rat, and the Timor deer. Moreover, the Park includes one of the richest marine environments including coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds, seamounts, and semi-enclosed bays. These habitats harbor more than 1,000 species of fish, some 260 species of reef-building coral, and 70 species of sponges. Dugong, sharks, manta rays, at least 14 species of whales, dolphins, and sea turtles also make Komodo National Park their home.

Threats to terrestrial biodiversity include the increasing pressure on forest cover and water resources as the local human population has increased 800% over the past 60 years. In addition, the Timor deer population, the preferred prey source for the endangered Komodo dragon, is still being poached. Destructive fishing practices such as dynamite-, cyanide, and compressor fishing severely threaten the Park's marine resources by destroying both the habitat (coral reefs) and the resource itself (fish and invertebrate stocks). The present situation in the Park is characterized by reduced but continuing destructive fishing practices primarily by immigrant fishers, and high pressure on demersal stocks like lobsters, shellfish, groupers and napoleon wrasse. Pollution inputs, ranging from raw sewage to chemicals, are increasing and may pose a major threat in the future.

Today, the PKA Balai Taman Nasional Komodo and PT. Putri Naga Komodo are working together to protect the Park's vast resources. Our goals are to protect the Park's biodiversity (both marine and terrestrial) and the breeding stocks of commercial fishes for replenishment of surrounding fishing grounds. The main challenge is to reduce both threats to the resources and conflicts between incompatible activities. Both parties have a long term commitment to protecting the marine biodiversity of Komodo National Park.

The Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) is a species of lizard that inhabits the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang, and Gili Dasami, in central Indonesia. A member of the monitor lizard family (Varanidae), it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to an average length of 2–3 meters (approximately 6.5–10 ft) and weighing around 70 kilograms (154 lb). Their unusual size is attributed to island gigantism, since there are no other carnivorous animals to fill the niche on the islands where they live, and also to the Komodo dragon's low metabolic rate. As a result of their size, these lizards are apex predators, dominating the ecosystems in which they live. Although Komodo dragons eat mostly carrion, they will also hunt and ambush prey including invertebrates, birds, and mammals.

Mating begins between May and August, and the eggs are laid in September. About twenty eggs are deposited in abandoned megapode nests and incubated for seven to eight months, hatching in April, when insects are most plentiful. Young Komodo dragons are vulnerable and therefore dwell in trees, safe from predators and cannibalistic adults. They take around three to five years to mature, and may live as long as fifty years. They are capable of parthenogenesis, in which viable eggs are laid without fertilization by a male.

Komodo dragons were discovered by Western scientists in 1910. Their large size and fearsome reputation makes them popular zoo exhibits. In the wild their range has contracted due to human activities and they are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. They are protected under Indonesian law, and a national park, Komodo National Park, was founded to aid protection efforts.

The Komodo dragon is also known as the Komodo Monitor or the Komodo Island Monitor in scientific literature, although this is not very common. To the natives of Komodo Island, it is referred to as ora, buaya darat (land crocodile) or biawak raksasa (giant monitor).

Evolution

The evolutionary development of the Komodo dragon started with the Varanus genus, which originated in Asia about 40 million years ago and migrated to Australia. Around 15 million years ago, a collision between Australia and Southeast Asia allowed the Varanids to move into what is now the Indonesian archipelago. The Komodo dragon is believed to have differentiated from its Australian ancestors 4 million years ago, extending their range to as far east as the island of Timor. The Ice Age and its dramatic sea level changes brought the islands that the Komodo dragons inhabited into their present locations, isolating them in their present range.

Description

Closeup of a Komodo dragon's skin.

In the wild, an adult Komodo dragon usually weighs around 70 kilograms (154 lb), although captive specimens often weigh more. The largest verified wild specimen was 3.13 meters (10 ft 3 in) long and weighed 166 kilograms (365 lb), including undigested food. The Komodo dragon has a tail as long as its body, as well as about 60 frequently-replaced serrated teeth that can measure up to 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in length. Its saliva is frequently blood-tinged, because its teeth are almost completely covered by gingival tissue that is naturally lacerated during feeding. This creates an ideal culture for the virulent bacteria that live in its mouth. It also has a long, yellow, deeply-forked tongue.

Senses

The Komodo dragon does not have a particularly acute sense of hearing, despite its visible earholes, and is only able to hear sounds between 400 and 2000 hertz.^] It is able to see as far away as 300 meters (985 feet), but because its retinas only contain cones, it is thought to have poor night vision. The Komodo dragon is able to see in color, but has poor visual discrimination of stationary objects.

A basking Komodo dragon photographed at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The Komodo dragon uses its tongue to detect taste and smell stimuli, as with many other reptiles, with the vomeronasal sense using a Jacobson's organ, a sense that aids navigation in the dark. With the help of a favorable wind and its habit of swinging its head from side to side as it walks, Komodo dragons may be able to detect carrion from 4–9.5 kilometres (2.5–6 mi) away. The dragon's nostrils are not of great use for smelling, as the animal does not have a diaphragm. It only has a few taste buds in the back of its throat. Its scales, some of which are reinforced with bone, have sensory plaques connected to nerves that facilitate its sense of touch. The scales around the ears, lips, chin, and soles of the feet may have three or more sensory plaques.

The Komodo dragon was formerly thought to be deaf when a study reported no agitation in wild Komodo dragons in response to whispers, raised voices, or shouts. This was disputed when London Zoological Garden employee Joan Proctor trained a captive specimen to come out to feed at the sound of her voice, even when she could not be seen.

Ecology

Close-up of a Komodo dragon's foot and tail.

The Komodo dragon prefers hot and dry places, and typically lives in dry open grassland, savanna, and tropical forest at low elevations. As an ectotherm, it is most active in the day, although it exhibits some nocturnal activity. Komodo dragons are largely solitary, coming together only to breed and eat. They are capable of running rapidly in brief sprints up to 20 kilometres per hour (12.4 mph), diving up to 4.5 metres (15 ft), and climbing trees proficiently when young through use of their strong claws. To catch prey that is out of reach, the Komodo dragon may stand on its hind legs and use its tail as a support. As the Komodo dragon matures, its claws are used primarily as weapons, as its great size makes climbing impractical.

For shelter, the Komodo dragon digs holes that can measure from 1–3 metres (3–10 ft) wide with its powerful forelimbs and claws. Because of its large size and habit of sleeping in these burrows, it is able to conserve body heat throughout the night and minimize its basking period the morning after. The Komodo dragon typically hunts in the afternoon, but stays in the shade during the hottest part of the day. These special resting places, usually located on ridges with a cool sea breeze, are marked with droppings and are cleared of vegetation. They also serve as a strategic location from which to ambush deer.

Diet

Komodo dragons on Rinca

Komodo dragons are carnivores. Although they eat mostly carrion, they will also ambush live prey with a stealthy approach. When suitable prey arrives near a dragon's ambush site, it will suddenly charge at the animal and go for the underside or the throat. It is able to locate its prey using its keen sense of smell, which can locate a dead or dying animal from a range of up to 9.5 kilometers (6 miles). Komodo dragons have also been observed knocking down large pigs and deer with their strong tail.

Komodo dragons eat by tearing large chunks of flesh and swallowing them whole while holding the carcass down with their forelegs. For smaller prey up to the size of a goat, their loosely articulated jaws, flexible skull, and expandable stomach allow it to swallow its prey whole. The vegetable contents of the stomach and intestines are typically avoided. Copious amounts of red saliva that the Komodo dragons produce helps to lubricate the food, but swallowing is still a long process (15–20 minutes to swallow a goat). Komodo dragons may attempt to speed up the process by ramming the carcass against a tree to force it down its throat, sometimes ramming so forcefully that the tree is knocked down. To prevent itself from suffocating while swallowing, it breathes using a small tube under the tongue that connects to the lungs. After eating up to 80 percent of its body weight in one meal, it drags itself to a sunny location to speed digestion, as the food could rot and poison the dragon if left undigested for too long. Because of their slow metabolism, large dragons can survive on as little as 12 meals a year. After digestion, the Komodo dragon regurgitates a mass of horns, hair, and teeth known as the gastric pellet, which is covered in malodorous mucus. After regurgitating the gastric pellet, it rubs its face in the dirt or on bushes to get rid of the mucus, suggesting that it, like humans, does not relish the scent of its own excretions.

Young Komodo dragon photographed on Rinca feeding on a water buffalo carcass

The largest animals generally eat first, while the smaller ones follow a hierarchy. The largest male asserts his dominance and the smaller males show their submission by use of body language and rumbling hisses. Dragons of equal size may resort to "wrestling." Losers usually retreat, though have been known to be killed and eaten by victors.

The Komodo dragon's diet is wide-ranging, and includes invertebrates, other reptiles (including smaller Komodo dragons), birds, bird eggs, small mammals, monkeys, wild boar, goats, deer, horses, and water buffalo. Young Komodos will eat insects, eggs, geckos, and small mammals. Occasionally they have been known to consume humans and human corpses, digging up bodies from shallow graves to do so. This habit of raiding graves caused the villagers of Komodo to move their graves from sandy to clay ground and pile rocks on top of them to deter the lizards. The Komodo dragon may have evolved to feed on the extinct dwarf elephant Stegodon that once lived on Flores, according to evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond. The Komodo dragon has also been observed intentionally startling a pregnant deer in the hopes of a miscarriage whose remains they can eat, a technique that has also been observed in large African predators.

Because the Komodo dragon does not have a diaphragm, it cannot suck water when drinking, nor can it lap water with its tongue. Instead, it drinks by taking a mouthful of water, lifting its head, and letting the water run down its throat.

Venom and bacteria

A sleeping Komodo dragon. Notice the large, curved claws used in fighting and eating.

In late 2005, University of Melbourne researchers concluded that the Perentie (Varanus giganteus), other species of monitor, and agamids may be somewhat venomous. It had been thought that bites inflicted by these lizards were prone to infection because of bacteria in the lizards' mouths, but the research team showed that the immediate effects were caused by mild envenomation. Bites on human digits by a Lace Monitor (V. varius), a Komodo dragon, and a Spotted Tree Monitor (V. scalaris) were observed, and all produced similar results in humans: rapid swelling within minutes, localized disruption of blood clotting, shooting pain up to the elbow, with some symptoms lasting for several hours.

Komodo dragons also possess virulent bacteria in their saliva, of which more than 28 Gram-negative and 29 Gram-positive strains have been isolated. These bacteria cause septicemia in their victim; if an initial bite does not kill the prey animal and it escapes, it will commonly succumb within a week to the resulting infection. The deadliest bacteria in Komodo dragon saliva appears to be a very deadly strain of Pasteurella multocida, from studies performed with lab mice. Because the Komodo dragon appears immune to its own microbes, much research has been done searching for the antibacterial molecule in the hopes of human medicinal use.

Reproduction

Mating occurs between May and August, with the eggs laid in September. During this period, males fight over females and territory by grappling with one another upon their hind legs with the loser eventually being pinned to the ground. These males may vomit or defecate when preparing for the fight. The winner of the fight will then flick his long tongue at the female to gain information about her receptivity. Females are antagonistic and resist with their claws and teeth during the early phases of courtship. Therefore, the male must fully restrain the female during coitus to avoid being hurt. Other courtship displays include males rubbing their chins on the female, hard scratches to the back, and licking. Copulation occurs when the male inserts one of his hemipenes into the female's cloaca. Komodo dragons may be monogamous and form "pair bonds", a rare behavior for lizards.

In this image, the long tail and claws are fully visible.

The female lays her eggs in burrows cut into the side of a hill or in the abandoned nesting mounds of the Orange-footed Scrubfowl (a moundbuilder or megapode), with a preference for the abandoned mounds. Clutches contain an average of 20 eggs which have an incubation period of 7–8 months. The female lies on the eggs to incubate and protect them until they hatch around April, at the end of the rainy season when insects are plentiful. Hatching is an exhausting effort for the pups, who break out of their eggshells with an egg tooth that falls off soon after. After cutting out the hatchlings may lie in their eggshells for hours before starting to dig out of the nest. They are born quite defenseless, and many are eaten by predators.

Young Komodo dragons spend much of their first few years in trees, where they are relatively safe from predators, including cannibalistic adults, who make juvenile dragons 10% of their diet. According to David Attenborough, the habit of cannibalism may be advantageous in sustaining the large size of adults, as medium-sized prey on the islands is rare. When the young must approach a kill, they roll around in fecal matter and rest in the intestines of eviscerated animals to deter these hungry adults. Komodo dragons take about three to five years to mature, and may live for up to 50 years.

Parthenogenesis

Main article: Parthenogenesis

A Komodo dragon at London Zoo named Sungai laid a clutch of eggs in late 2005 after being separated from male company for more than two years. Scientists initially assumed that she had been able to store sperm from her earlier encounter with a male, an adaptation known as superfecundation. On December 20, 2006, it was reported that Flora, a captive Komodo dragon living in the Chester Zoo in England, was the second known Komodo dragon to have laid unfertilized eggs: she laid 11 eggs, and 7 of them hatched, all of them male. Scientists at Liverpool University in northern England performed genetic tests on three eggs that collapsed after being moved to an incubator, and verified that Flora had had no physical contact with a male dragon. After Flora's eggs' condition had been discovered, testing showed that Sungai's eggs were also produced without outside fertilization.

Parthenogenetic baby Komodo dragon, Chester Zoo, England

Komodo dragons have the ZW chromosomal sex-determination system, as opposed to the mammalian XY system. Male progeny prove that Flora's unfertilized eggs were haploid (n) and doubled their chromosomes later to become diploid (2n) means of a polar body, rather than it being the case that she laid diploid eggs (as would have happened if one of the meiosis reduction-divisions in her ovaries had failed). When a female Komodo dragon (with ZW sex chromosomes) reproduces in this manner, she provides her progeny with only one chromosome from each of her pairs of chromosomes, including only one of her two sex chromosomes. This single set of chromosomes is duplicated in the egg, which develops parthenogenetically. Eggs receiving a Z chromosome become ZZ (male); those receiving a W chromosome become WW and fail to develop.

It has been hypothesized that this reproductive adaptation allows a single female to enter an isolated ecological niche (such as an island) and by parthenogenesis produce male offspring, thereby establishing a sexually reproducing population (via reproduction with her offspring that can result in both male and female young). Despite the advantages of such an adaptation, zoos are cautioned that parthenogenesis may be detrimental to genetic diversity, due to the obvious necessity of breeding between the only female mother and male offspring.

On January 31, 2008, the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas became the first zoo in the Americas to document parthenogenesis in Komodo dragons. The zoo has two adult female Komodo dragons, one of which laid about 17 eggs on May 19-May 20, 2007. Only two eggs were incubated and hatched due to space issues; the first hatched on January 31, 2008 while the second hatched on February 1. Both hatchlings were males.

History

Discovery by the Western world

Komodo dragon coin, issued by Indonesia

Komodo dragons were first documented by Europeans in 1910, when rumors of a "land crocodile" reached Lieutenant van Steyn van Hensbroek of the Dutch colonial administration. Widespread notoriety came after 1912, when Peter Ouwens, the director of the Zoological Museum at Bogor, Java, published a paper on the topic after receiving a photo and a skin from the lieutenant, as well as two other specimens from a collector. Later, the Komodo dragon was the driving factor for an expedition to Komodo Island by W. Douglas Burden in 1926. After returning with 12 preserved specimens and 2 live ones, this expedition provided the inspiration for the 1933 movie King Kong. It was also Burden who coined the common name "Komodo dragon." Three of his specimens were stuffed and are still on display in the American Museum of Natural History.

Studies

The Dutch, realizing the limited number of individuals in the wild, outlawed sport hunting and heavily limited the number of individuals taken for scientific study. Collecting expeditions ground to a halt with the occurrence of World War II, not resuming until the 1950s and 1960s, when studies examined the Komodo dragon's feeding behavior, reproduction, and body temperature. At around this time, an expedition was planned in which a long-term study of the Komodo dragon would be undertaken. This task was given to the Auffenberg family, who stayed on Komodo Island for 11 months in 1969. During their stay, Walter Auffenberg and his assistant Putra Sastrawan captured and tagged more than 50 Komodo dragons. The research from the Auffenberg expedition would prove to be enormously influential in raising Komodo dragons in captivity. Research after the Auffenberg family has shed more light on the nature of the Komodo dragon, with biologists such as Claudio Ciofi continuing to study the creatures.

Conservation

Komodo dragon on Komodo Island.

The Komodo dragon is a vulnerable species and is found on the IUCN Red List. There are approximately 4,000-5,000 living Komodo dragons in the wild. Their populations are restricted to the islands of Gili Motang (100), Gili Dasami (100), Rinca (1,300), Komodo (1,700), and Flores (perhaps 2,000). However, there are concerns that there may presently be only 350 breeding females. To address these concerns, the Komodo National Park was founded in 1980 to protect Komodo dragon populations on islands including Komodo, Rinca, and Padar. Later, the Wae Wuul and Wolo Tado Reserves were opened on Flores to aid with Komodo dragon conservation. There is evidence that Komodo dragons are becoming accustomed to human presence, as they are often fed animal carcasses at several feeding stations by tourists.

Volcanic activity, earthquakes, loss of habitat, fire (the population at Padar was almost destroyed because of a wildfire, and has since mysteriously disappeared), loss of prey, tourism, and poaching have all contributed to the vulnerable status of the Komodo dragon. Under Appendix I of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species), commercial trade of skins or specimens is illegal.

The Australian biologist Tim Flannery has suggested that Australian ecosystem may benefit from the introduction of Komodo dragons, as it could partially occupy the large-carnivore niche left vacant following the extinction of the giant varanid Megalania. However, he argues for great caution and gradualness in these acclimatisation experiments, especially as "the problem of predation of large varanids upon humans should not be understated". He uses the example of the successful coexistence with saltwater crocodiles as evidence that Australians could successfully adjust.

Although attacks are very rare, Komodo dragons have been known to kill humans. On June 4, 2007, a Komodo dragon attacked an eight year old boy on Komodo Island. He later died of massive bleeding from his wounds. It was the first recorded fatal attack in 33 years. Natives blamed the attack on environmentalists angering the monitors by discontinuing goat sacrifices. To the natives of Komodo Island, the Komodo dragon is actually the reincarnation of fellow kinspeople, and are thus treated with reverence.

In captivity

Komodo dragon at Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Despite the visible earholes, Komodo dragons cannot hear very well.

Komodo dragons have long been great zoo attractions, where their size and reputation make them popular exhibits. They are, however, rare in zoos because they are susceptible to infection and parasitic disease if captured from the wild, and do not readily reproduce.

The first Komodo dragon was exhibited in 1934 at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, but it lived for only two years. More attempts to exhibit Komodo dragons were made, but the lifespan of these creatures was very short, averaging 5 years in the National Zoological Park. Studies done by Walter Auffenberg, which were documented in his book The Behavioral Ecology of the Komodo Monitor, eventually allowed for more successful managing and reproducing of the dragons in captivity.

It has been observed in captive dragons that many individuals display relatively tame behavior within a short period of time in captivity. Many occurrences are reported where keepers have brought the animals out of their enclosures to interact with zoo visitors, including young children, to no harmful effect. Dragons are also capable of recognizing individual humans. Ruston Hartdegen of the Dallas Zoo reported that their Komodo dragons reacted differently when presented with their regular keeper, a less familiar keeper, or a completely unfamiliar keeper.

Research with captive Komodo dragons has also provided evidence that they engage in play. One study concerned an individual who would push a shovel left by its keeper, apparently attracted to the sound of it scraping across the rocky surface. A young female dragon at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. would grab and shake various objects including statues, beverage cans, plastic rings and blankets. She would also insert her head into boxes, shoes, and other objects. She did not confuse these objects with food, as she would only swallow them if they were covered in rat blood. This social play has led to a striking comparison with mammalian play.

Komodo dragons at Toronto Zoo. Komodo dragons in captivity often grow fat, especially in their tails, due to regular feeding.

Another documentation of play in Komodo dragons comes from the University of Tennessee, where a young Komodo dragon named "Kraken" interacted with plastic rings, a shoe, a bucket, and a tin can by nudging them with her snout, swiping at them, and carrying them around in her mouth. She treated all of them differently than her food, prompting leading researcher Gordon Burghardt to conclude that they disprove the view of object play being "food-motivated predatory behavior." Kraken was the first Komodo dragon hatched in captivity outside of Indonesia, born in the National Zoo in September 13, 1992.

Even seemingly docile dragons may become aggressive unpredictably, especially when the animal's territory is invaded by someone unfamiliar. In June 2001, a Komodo dragon seriously injured Phil Bronstein—executive editor of the San Francisco Chronicle—when he entered its enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo after being invited in by its keeper. Bronstein was bitten on his bare foot, as the keeper had told him to take off his white shoes, which could have potentially excited the Komodo dragon. Although he escaped, he needed to have several tendons in his foot reattached surgically.

New hope for Sumatra’s elephants and tigers as Indonesia doubles size of key national park

2008-09-04T02:09:00.000-07:00

Jakarta, Indonesia: The government of Indonesia today declared its commitment to enlarging the most suitable block of forest for Sumatran elephants, expanding the vital Tesso Nilo National Park on Sumatra island to 86,000 hectares.

Elephants and WWF staff form the flying squads in Tesso Nilo National Park, Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. Their job is to drive back wild elephants that approach human settlements, where they can cause considerable damage, injuries and even death. Encroachment by palm oil plantations into elephant habitat have greatly increased conflicts between humans and elephants.

"This is an important milestone toward securing a future for the Sumatran elephant and tiger," said Dr. Mubariq Ahmad, WWF-Indonesia's Chief Executive. “To ensure that the commitment is effectively implemented, we must redouble our efforts on the ground to eliminate poaching and illegal settlements within this special forest.”

Tesso Nilo is one of the last havens of endangered Sumatran elephants and critically endangered Sumatran tigers. With more than 4,000 plant species recorded so far, the forest of Tesso Nilo has the highest lowland forest plant biodiversity known to science, with many species yet to be discovered.

Tesso Nilo National Park was created in 2004 in Riau Province, but only 38,000 hectares of forest were included. With today’s declaration, the government of Indonesia is to extend the national park into 86,000 ha by December 2008 and integrate an additional 18,812 ha into the national park management area of 100,000 ha.

WWF has been supporting the government effort to extend and protect the park as the last block of lowland forest in central Sumatra large enough to support a viable elephant population. About 60 to 80 elephants are estimated to live there, along with 50 tigers.

Tesso Nilo forest is also an important watershed for more than 40,000 people living in the surrounding 22 villages.

“Tesso Nilo is still under serious threat from illegal activities, but if we can protect the forests there, it will give some of Sumatra’s most endangered wildlife the breathing room they need to survive,” Dr Ahmad said.

“And while we greatly appreciate this precedent for more protection from the Indonesian government, there are other areas on Sumatra that need safeguarding for the sake of its wildlife, its threatened indigenous peoples and to reduce the climate impacts of clearing.”

WWF helped establish and supports the Tesso Nilo Community Forum, run by all 22 local communities living in the buffer zone of the national park. The forum supports joint actions to protect the Tesso Nilo forest and gives the communities a unified and more influential voice in park management.

WWF is working with local communities that suffer from human-wildlife conflict as a result of disappearing forests in the province. Hundreds of elephants have died in the last few years.

A successful Elephant Flying Squad uses domesticated elephants and mahouts to keep wild elephants inside the park from raiding village crops outside the park. WWF also promotes the planting of buffer crops that are not attractive to elephants.

“WWF is committed for finding solutions for Sumatra’s people and wildlife and the global environment,” Dr

Ahmad said. “This is where the focus should be, rather than on the narrower interests of global pulp and palm oil conglomerates.”

For further information, please contact:
Desmarita Murni, WWF-Indonesia: +62 811793458) dmurni@wwf.or.id
Phil Dickie, WWF-International press office: +41 79 701952 or PDickie@wwfint.org

Notes for Editors:

• Riau Province has the highest deforestation rate of any province in Indonesia, with an astounding 11 percent forest loss between 2005 to 2006. It has lost more than 4 million hectares of forest in the past 25 years (65% of the province’s original forest).

• Riau is home to an estimated 210 Sumatran elephants (the remainder of a 84 percent population decline in the past 25 years) and 192 Sumatran tigers (after a 70 percent decline in the past quarter century). The new boundaries of Tesso Nilo National Park are estimated to be home to 60-80 elephants and 50 tigers.

• Riau is home to two of the world’s largest pulp mills, owned by Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International Holding Ltd (APRIL). The province has lost more natural forest to pulpwood concessions than any other Indonesian province.

• The clearing of carbon-rich peatlands and peat forests in Riau has contributed to Indonesia having the third-highest rate of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, behind only the United States and China.

About WWF
WWF, the global conservation organization, is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations. WWF has a global network active in over 100 countries with almost 5 million supporters.
WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

Long haul to measure Arctic sea ice confirmed

2008-09-04T01:10:00.000-07:00

WWF has welcomed the news that a pioneering expedition to deliver the most accurate measurements yet of the arctic ocean ice sheet has secured the funding it needs for the survey.

The survey team, led by the experienced British polar expedition leader Pen Hadow, will depart in mid-February and plans to spend over 100 days hauling ground-penetrating radar equipment over the ice to the North Pole.

“The Arctic could be entirely ice-free in the summer as early as 2013, or as late as 2040. The more the ice disappears, the more vulnerable life in the Arctic becomes." Martin Sommerkorn, WWF International Arctic Programme’s Senior Climate Change Advisor

“This will allow climate scientists to refine their predictions for the climate of this region and the world,” says Martin Sommerkorn, Senior Climate Change Advisor for the WWF International Arctic Programme.

“The ice thickness in the Arctic has been the missing variable in being able to more accurately predict how quickly the arctic ice will melt away,” he said.

The trend of diminishing arctic ice due to climate change raises fears for entire arctic ecosystems that depend on the ice, from single-celled organisms, all the way up to larger animals.

The polar bear was recently listed as threatened by the US government, based on projections for the disappearance of the ice.

“The Arctic could be entirely ice-free in the summer as early as 2013, or as late as 2040,” said Sommerkorn.

“The more the ice disappears, the more vulnerable life in the Arctic becomes. What many people do not realise is that there are also climate feedbacks from the Arctic to the rest of the world.

“As arctic ice melts, it makes the climate more unstable across the whole world. We need to know the rate at which the ice is likely to go, to help us prepare, and to help us persuade governments of the urgency of immediate and effective action on limiting greenhouse gases.”

WWF is helping to support the Catlin Arctic Survey, and looks forward to receiving the data the expedition will generate. It will help feed into preparations for securing an effective global deal on climate change in Copenhagen in 2009.

Putin collars Dr Darman’s tiger

2008-09-04T00:58:00.000-07:00

03 Sep 2008

The Amur tiger has leapt into the headlines with former Russian president Vladimir Putin shooting a tiger with a tranquillizing gun in Russia’s far east, before tagging the tiger with a collar containing a satellite radio.

Putin, now his country’s prime minister, was taken on a trip into the Ussuriisk nature reserve near the Chinese border to see how researchers monitor the tigers in the wild. He helped measure the tiger’s incisors before placing the satellite transmitter around its neck.

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WWF-Russia, active in efforts to protect the Amur tiger for many years, is delighted at the wide publicity the tiger has received.

“This was the same tigress I tracked in January 2004 in the same place in Ussuriiskii,” said Dr.Yury Darman, Director of the Amur branch of WWF Russia. “At that time the size of its heel was 10cm and it had a brood of three tiger cubs.”

The Amur tiger, which can weigh up to 450kg and measure around three metres from its nose to the tip of its tail, has come back from the brink of extinction to its highest population for at least 100 years.

Only about 40 were alive in 1950 but nowadays there are around 450, one of the strongest tiger populations in the world.

Although this is a healthy increase, it doesn’t translate to the Amur tiger being out of danger. Poachers still target the animal for illegal markets, particularly in nearby China. Hunters are also a threat, with an illegal tiger trap being discovered on an adjacent hunting reserve last year.

And, as Dr Darman explained, “wild boar population defines the well-being of the Amur tigers, while the wild boar depends on a crop of Korean Cedar pine nuts and Mongolian oak acorns”.

As president, Putin received pleas from WWF and local residents to halt the destruction of Korean Cedar Pine forests, now encroaching on the reserve to the extent that loggers destroyed a popular ecological track.

Dr Darman said no state authority has real responsibility for the implementation of the 1996 Conservation strategy of the Amur tiger in Russia with basic financing still coming from international funds

“Vladimir Putin has heard all these issue from Andrey Kotlyar, the director of Ussuriiskii nature reserve,” Dr Darman said. “Now we may hope,that the problems which the WWF and nature reserve failed to solve for many years will receive state resolution at last.”

Narwhal massacre provokes outrage in Greenland

2008-09-04T00:56:00.000-07:00

04 Sep 2008

The discovery of dozens of massacred narwhals on the east coast of Greenland has widened divisions between hunting and tourism interests.

Narwhals are a small Arctic whale with a single long tusk, sought after by poachers because of its ivory.

A scientific expedition from New Zealand discovered the whale carcasses as they sailed along the coastline about two weeks ago. According to local media 48 animals were killed and poaching is suspected.

"We received a complaint that there may have been a possible violation of the Greenlandic law regarding the protection of narwhals, after the discovery of cadavers in Illoqqortoormiut," said the deputy chief of Greenland police Morten Nielsen.

Greenland’s Hunters and Fishers Organisation, KNAPK, was quick to condemn the apparent slaughter, along with many ordinary people as well as representatives of the tourist industry

People in Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory, are authorized to hunt narwhals "but there are rules that say you can't shoot females and that you have to remove the body" after killing the animal”, Nielsen said.

There were females and calves among the dead, Danish news agency Ritzau reported, adding that only the males' long tusks, some meat and blubber had been removed from the carcasses.

"We're now trying to investigate the incident and figure out what has happened and if the law has been broken," Nielsen said.

Narwhals can grow up to five metres in length and live primarily in the Arctic Ocean. Males have a single long, twisted tusk that protrudes from the upper left side of the jaw and which can grow up to three metres

Some females may also grow tusks, albeit much smaller. The export of narwhal tusks is banned in Greenland, and imports are banned in the European Union, according to Ritzau.

At the International Whaling Commission meeting in Chile in June, Greenland failed in a bid to extend indigenous subsistence hunting quotas to humpback whales, following revelations that the whale hunting had a large commercial component ending up on supermarket shelves.

Great Barrier Reef saved from shale oil exploitation

2008-09-04T00:52:00.001-07:00

Australia — It's a victory for the Whitsunday Islands and the Great Barrier Reef, with a 20-year moratorium on all new shale oil projects in the region. Led by the Save Our Foreshore group, the success shows just how powerful local, grassroots campaigns can be.

Aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef off the Whitsunday Islands. The proposed shale oil mine would have posed a range of threats to the region.

The ban has been welcomed by just about everyone but the Queenland Resource Council, whose proposal was set to mine millions of tonnes of shale rock each year on a site just 10 km from the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. The shale oil mine threatened to drain precious water supplies, and to risk toxic leaching and air pollution from waste rock. Shale oil production is extremely greenhouse gas intensive – emissions from this project, combined with the company's other planned operations, would have raised Australia's current total emissions by 30 percent within 20 years.

This is a great win but it is madness that such a project could have even been considered. We are facing catastrophic climate change – we must urgently cut emissions, not increase them. We don't need to endanger the Great Barrier Reef or anywhere else by mining fossil fuels. There are better energy sources that are ready to go right now. If Queensland Premier Anna Bligh can block this proposal for climate reasons, we look forward to her blocking other major fossil fuel projects in the state, including export coal expansions, for the same reasons.

Greenpeace joined Save Our Foreshore in their fight against the shale oil mine last month when the Esperanza sailed into Airlie Beach flanked by a flotilla of 90 local vessels as part of its six-week energy [r]evolution tour.

Warming boosts strongest storms

2008-09-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

The strongest tropical storms are becoming even stronger as the world's oceans warm, scientists have confirmed.

Analysis of satellite data shows that in the last 25 years, strong cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons have become more frequent in most of the tropics.

Writing in the journal Nature, they say the number of weaker storms has not noticeably altered.

Typhoon Nuri was the 12th tropical storm to hit the Philippines this year

The idea that climate change might be linked to tropical storms has been highly controversial.

A few years ago, it was claimed that hurricanes would become more frequent as well as more common in a warming world.

The swirling winds pick up energy from a warm ocean.

But recent research has suggested they would occur less frequently, though likely to pack a more powerful punch each time.

James Elsner from Florida State University in Tallahassee, US and colleagues believed the link might become clearer if they analysed data according to the strength of storms.

"We're seeing a signal, and it's telling us that the strongest effect (of rising ocean temperatures) is on the strongest storms," he told BBC News.

"At average or median wind speeds, about 40m/s, we don't see a trend; but when we get up to 50 or 60m/s we do see a trend."

A hurricane featuring winds of 40m/s (89mph) is a Category One storm according to the often-used Saffir-Simpson scale.

At about 60m/s (134mph) it enters Category Four, the strength at which Hurricane Gustav recently hit Cuba before weakening to Category One over the US coast.

Tropical trends

Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are different terms used in different regions of the world for the same phenomenon.

However, the bulk of the scientific work on possible links to climate change has featured North Atlantic hurricanes, largely because of the relatively good historical records contained in the US.

The new analysis, using satellite data acquired by US, European and Japanese programmes, shows up different trends across the tropics.

A memorial marks the damaging 1900 hurricane in Galveston, US

The increase in strong storms shows up most markedly in the North Atlantic and Indian oceans, and is absent in the South Pacific.

"We're looking at different ocean basins, and some are already pretty warm," said Professor Elsner.

"So there, an increase in temperature isn't going to produce as strong an increase as in basins where the the temperatures are only marginally supportive of cyclones."

The researchers believe weaker storms are not affected so much because the factors that prevent them developing to their full potential, notably wind shear - abrupt changes in wind speed and direction that prevent the cyclone fuelling itself with ocean heat - are not related to ocean temperatures.

Globally, a rise of 1C in sea surface temperature would increase the occurrence of strong storms by about one third, the researchers calculate.

Apart from human-induced climate change, the incidence of tropical storms is determined by natural cycles such as El Nino that affect surface temperatures in various parts of the oceans.

The damage they do is affected far less by their strength than by where they hit land, and by how able a society is to withstand the winds and rain.

Boulders against bottom trawling

2008-09-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

International — The fishing industry seems determined to catch every last fish in the North Sea. The governments of the region and the EU have done little to stop them, but they may soon hit a few snags: a team from Greenpeace Germany and Greenpeace Netherlands has sailed into the German North Sea and begun placing 150 granite rocks on the seabed. They are hoping that the rocks, each weighing 2-3 tonnes and measuring one square cubic metre, will prevent fishing boats from bottom trawling on the Sylt Outer Reef. This highly destructive fishing method involves a net being dragged across the seabed indiscriminately catching everything in its path.

Bottom-trawling boats drag fishing gear weighing several tonnes across the sea bed, destroying fragile underwater ecosystems and decimating fish stocks.

Bottom trawling not only decimates stocks of popular fish, such as sole and plaice, but it also results in a large amount of bycatch – which is thrown back into the sea either dead or dying.

Greenpeace Netherlands and Greenpeace Germany are taking direct action to protect the fragile rocky reef and sandbank habitats and the many species that are dependent on them. The German Government and fishing industry are unwilling to address the ongoing destruction of vulnerable marine habitats and the imminent collapse of North Sea fish stocks. We hope that fishermen will now steer clear of the Sylt Outer Reef and respect it as a marine reserve.

Globally, fish stocks are in free fall with around 90 percent of predatory species, like tuna, having been wiped out since the 1950s. If we carry on with business as usual, very soon there will be no fish left and no future for the industry. Only in June, scientists warned that cod stocks in the North Sea are so depleted that fishing must be halted altogether.

Incredibly, these warnings have been ignored. Rather than establishing a marine reserve to allow the North Sea to recover, European Ministers continue to bury their heads in the sand and vote to increase catch quotas year after year.

Even in areas recognised for their high ecological importance, such as the Sylt Outer Reef, the destruction continues. Not only is fishing allowed, but also industry extracts vast quantities of sand and gravel, with devastating consequences for marine habitats.

On paper these types of activity shouldn’t be happening. The Sylt Outer Reef is protected under European law - designated as a ‘Special Area of Conservation’ under the EU Habitats Directive. But in reality this protection is worth little more than the paper it is written on.

We are demanding that the German government push the European Commission to put in place new measures to enforce a ban on fishing in the area by the beginning of next year at the latest. We also want the Dutch, Danish and UK governments to support this.

And we want the German government to immediately put a stop to the industrial extraction of sand and gravel in the area by ensuring no new licences are issued.
Ultimately, governments need to establish a global network of fully protected marine reserves covering 40 percent of the world’s oceans, including the North Sea.

Victory - Indonesia's peat forest gains temporary protection

2008-09-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

Riau, Indonesia — In a rare piece of good news for Indonesia's forest, a regional governor has announced an interim ban on deforestation in Riau, one of the areas currently worst affected by rapid deforestation. The ban, especially if made permanent, is also good news for the climate.

New palm oil plantation with forest it replaced in the background

In 2007 we highlighted how Indonesia's forests are the fastest disappearing on Earth and how the subsequent burning of peatlands is releasing huge amounts of carbon. Now that work has paid off with the province of Riau pledging an interim halt the destruction of its forests - a move that will prevent billions of tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere.

Indonesia's forests are being cleared for palm oil plantations, timber and paper products. Beneath much of this forest are thick layers of peat that lock up billions of tones of carbon. Once the forest is cleared the peat swamp is drained and often burned to make the soil more suitable for palm oil plantations. Burning of the forest and peat results in massive emissions of greenhouse gases, making Indonesia the world's third largest climate polluter.

Riau Province has huge areas of forest covered peatlands. It has been experiencing rapid clearance for palm oil plantations. In 2007, our forest defender camp helped expose this devastation. Now the Riau Governor has announced the temporary ban on deforestation, which will remain in place until a national law is agreed.

"The moratorium is an important first step and an opportunity for the local government, forest communities and other stakeholders to improve forest governance," said Arief Wicaksono, Greenpeace Southeast Asia's Political Advisor.

The move follows Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's pledge at the G-8 Summit in July to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation by 50 percent by 2009.

National ban needed now

However to ensure their G-8 pledge is more than just nice words, the Indonesian Government needs to quickly ban deforestation nationally.

"The Indonesian government should declare a national moratorium on forest conversion to bring a halt to the vicious cycle of peatland drainage, forest fires and resulting biodiversity loss due to forest destruction." said Zulfahmi, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Forest campaigner.

Rising global demand for palm oil is driving the rapid expansion of palm oil plantations. Several major multinational companies dominate the palm oil market.

Following our campaign in April, Unilever, the world's biggest user of palm oil announced its support for a moratorium on further deforestation for palm oil. Only decisive action from both the biggest users of palm oil and the Indonesian Government can halt the deforestation and cut Indonesia's massive annual emissions.

That's exactly what we are campaigning for now. A win would not only be massively significant for protecting what remains of Indonesia's diverse rainforest but also a vital step in tackling climate change.

We got a tip-off last Thursday that someone in Goma was trying to sell a baby gorilla

2008-09-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

We decided to set up a sting operation, where we would pose as wildlife dealers interested in buying the gorilla.

The local authorities gave us the go-ahead, so a team of rangers from the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature was put on standby to make any arrests.

We arranged with a local contact to meet the men involved; we were introduced to them and they told us that they were acting as middle men for the owner of a baby mountain gorilla, which was being kept elsewhere in Goma.

After several hours of negotiating and discussions, the men took us to the house where the animal was being held.

The sellers were arrested, while the chimp was taken to a sanctuary

We were led to a small room in the house, where a man opened a basket revealing a baby chimpanzee.

Clearly the men did not know the difference between a gorilla and a chimpanzee. The chimp had been in that basket for three months, since it had been taken from its home in the Virunga National Park.

We arrested the three middle men and a soldier who were at the house. The chimp was confiscated and will be sent to a sanctuary.

It has now emerged that the man who owned the house is a Major in the Congolese army. It was not a surprise that Major "X" (we can't name him yet as a result of legal reasons) was involved in the trade of baby chimps.

He has been implicated in poaching incidents before; more importantly, there is strong evidence that he is a ring-leader in the illegal charcoal trade.

We hope that the judicial proceedings following this operation will finally bring Major X to justice. This would represent a massive breakthrough in our efforts to protect the gorilla sector.

FRIDAY 8 AUGUST - GOOD NEWS AT LAST

Emmanuel (left) with Innocent and one of the massacred gorillas in July 2007

Big news for us this week; our friend and colleague Emmanuel de Merode has been appointed as the new head of Virunga National Park by the Congolese government.

Emmanuel was the former director of WildlifeDirect, the NGO that has helped raise funds for our work through our online blogs.

He is very experienced here in Virunga, and is well respected by the international community and the local Congolese alike.

We are absolutely thrilled with this development and we are looking forward to seeing Virunga move forward under his leadership.

With Emmanuel at the helm, it is hoped that we can make inroads into stabilising the park and regaining access to the Gorilla Sector, which is currently controlled by Laurent Nkunda's rebels.

At the end of the day, it will only be once peace returns to the area that we rangers will be able to get back to the job of monitoring and protecting the mountain gorillas. We reluctantly have become a paramilitary force, but we would much prefer to drop our weapons and simply return to being wildlife rangers.

The sellers were arrested, while the chimp was taken to a sanctuary

Another challenge Emmanuel will have to tackle is the charcoal trade that is continuing to be a threat to the forests of Virunga.

Last month alone, we confiscated 702 bags of illegal charcoal at our roadblock at Kibati.

After being sworn in by the Military Tribunal in Goma, Emmanuel will step into the role on 13 August, taking command of the 680 rangers serving within the park.

We all wish him the best of luck.

Longan is Tropis Fruit

2008-09-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

The longan (simplified Chinese: traditional Chinese; pinyin: lóngyǎn; Cantonese long-ngan; literally "dragon eye"; Thai ลำไย) is a tropical tree native to southern China. It is also found in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. It is also called guiyuan in Chinese, lengkeng in Indonesia, mata kucing (literally "cat's eye") in Malaysia, nhãn in Vietnamese (The Species: Euphoria longana Lamk. named "long nhãn" in Vietnamese- literally "dragon's eyes"), Mora in Sinhalese (Sri Lanka) and also "longan" in Tagalog.

Description

The tree can grow up to 12 metres in height, and the plant is very sensitive to frost. Longan trees require sandy soil and temperatures that do not typically go below 4.5 degrees Celsius (40 degrees Fahrenheit). Longans and lychees bear fruit at around the same time of the year.

The longan ("dragon eyes") is so named because of the fruit's resemblance to an eyeball when it is shelled (the black seed shows through the translucent flesh like a pupil/iris). The seed is small, round and hard.

To express longan fruit, Vietnamese has a wonder: Da cóc mà bọc bột lọc, bột lọc mà bọc hòn than (literally: Toad's skin covers tapioca wheat, tapioca wheat covers coal ball): toad's skin is the ugly skin, tapioca wheat is the clear white flesh and coal ball is the black seed.

Culinary uses

The fruit is edible, and is often used in East Asian soups, snacks, desserts, and sweet-and-sour foods, either fresh or dried, sometimes canned with syrup in supermarkets. The seeds of fresh longan can be boiled and eaten, with a distinctive nutty flavor.

Dried longan (Chinese: pinyin: yuánròu; literally "round meat") are often used in Chinese cuisine and Chinese sweet dessert soups. In Chinese food therapy and herbal medicine, it is believed to have an effect on relaxation. In contrast with the fresh fruit, which is juicy and white, the flesh of dried longans is dark brown to almost black. In Chinese medicine the longan, much like the lychee, is considered a "warm" fruit.

Longan

Longan fruit

Conservation status

Near Threatened (IUCN 2.3)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Sapindales
Family:	Sapindaceae
Genus:	Dimocarpus
Species:	D. longan

Longan trees can produce thousands of ping-pong ball sized fruits that are eaten fresh or dried. Here is some basic information and photos of longan, the "Dragon's eye".

Scientific name:	Dimocarpus longan
Family:	Sapindaceae
Common names:	Longan, LamYai
Origin:	Southern China and Burma (but maybe also more south, south-west India and Sri Lanka)
Evergreen or deciduous:	Evergreen
Flowers:	Pale yellow flowers on upright terminal panicles.
Leaves:	Alternate leaves with 4 to 10 opposite leaflets. The shape is elliptic or lanceolate and blunt-tipped. Leaves are 10-20 cm long and 3.5-5 cm wide. They are leathery with a glossy-green color on the upper surface and grayish-green on the lower surface. New leave growth has a wine-color.
Fruits:	Round fruits with a thin, brown-colored inedible shell. The flesh of the fruit is translucent white, soft, and juicy. It surrounds a big, black seed. That's why it is called "Dragon's Eye."
Climate and weather:	Longan is a subtropical tree but it grows well in the tropics. It needs a prominent change of seasons for satisfactory flowering. A cool season of 2-3 months results in abundant flowering.
Pollination:	Mainly by small insects, but also by wind.
Height:	9-12 meter (sometimes up to 20 m)
Crown size:	up to 14 meter
Type of soil:	Prefers rich sandy loam or moderately acid, somewhat organic, sand.
Spacing (close range)	6 x 6 meter
Spacing (wide range)	12 x 12 meter
Propagation:	Mostly grown from seed.
Insect pests:	The most important pest is the Longan stink bug: Tessaratoma javanica. Other pests include: Erinose mite, scales, fruit flies, aphids, stem borers, leaf eating caterpillars, flower eating caterpillars, mealy bug, fruit spotting bug, elephant beetles and fruit piercing moth.
Diseases:	Relatively free of diseases. Main disease is Rosette shoot or Witches' broom
Other pests:	Fruit bats or flying foxes.
Uses:	Fruits are eaten fresh or dried (after peeling skin and removing the seed).